Ahead of the Bell: Analyst eyes TiVo's churn rate

William Blair & Co.'s Ralph Schackart said in a note to clients that the company's third-quarter subscriber loss of 163,000 was above his estimate of 105,000. TiVo's churn, or turnover among subscribers, grew to 1.4 percent from 1.3 percent a year earlier.

Late Tuesday, the Alviso, Calif., maker of digital video recorders reported a fiscal third-quarter profit of 98 cents per share because of a $105 million payment received from a patent lawsuit. Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters predicted a loss of 6 cents per share. Analysts' estimates typically exclude one-time items such as lawsuit payouts.

Schackart boosted his fiscal 2009 forecast to a loss of 5 cents per share from a loss of 10 cents per share based on the quarterly results and higher interest income from litigation proceeds.

Schackart said TiVo has always had trouble capitalizing on its brand strength and looks to its Comcast deal as the next potential positive catalyst.

TiVo reached a distribution deal with cable company Comcast Corp. earlier this year, but it is still ramping up in several markets.

In premarket trading, shares of TiVo fell 3 cents to $4.40.