TiVo’s Loss Widens on Development Spending

TiVo Inc., the California company that makes the brand-name digital video recorder that can pause and replay live television programs, said Tuesday that its fiscal first-quarter loss widened to $9.07 million as it spent more on research and development. Sales rose 21%.

The net loss attributable to common shareholders was 11 cents a share for the quarter ended April 30, compared with $7.88 million, or 12 cents, a year earlier, the Alviso-based company said. Revenue rose to $34.5 million from $28.5 million.

Chief Executive Michael Ramsay is spending more to develop and promote TiVo-brand recorders as cable television operators and satellite TV service EchoStar Communications Corp., which is based in Englewood, Colo., offer competing devices. El Segundo-based DirecTV Group Inc., the biggest U.S. satellite broadcaster, markets TiVo-brand recorders.

“They got more subscribers than expected and spent less in marketing and subsidies to get there” than investors had expected, said Daniel Ernst, an analyst with Rodman & Renshaw Inc. in New York. “People should not be surprised here. TiVo has been executing solidly for the last 18 months.”

TiVo shares fell 11 cents to $7.45 in extended trading after the company announced its results. In regular Nasdaq trading, they rose 16 cents to $7.56.

The company said it added 264,000 subscribers in the latest quarter.