Dish Network returned to profitability in its third quarter, beating analysts’ expectations. The prior-year results had been weighed down by an expensive legal settlement.
The satellite television provider said that subscriber-related revenue climbed 6.1 percent to $3.47 billion.
Dish ended the quarter with about 14.05 million pay-TV subscribers. That’s up from approximately 14.04 million in the prior-year period. It added about 734,000 gross new pay-tv subscribers, which is less than the approximately 739,000 added a year earlier.
Dish added about 75,000 net broadband subscribers in the latest quarter, up sharply from the approximately 17,000 added a year ago.
For the period ended Sept. 30, Dish Network Corp. earned $314.9 million, or 68 cents per share. That compares with a loss of $158.5 million, or 35 cents per share, a year earlier.
The prior-year period included a $700 million settlement related to a fee dispute that resulted in Dish blacking out AMC channels. Dish made the payment to AMC Networks and Cablevision Systems Corp., a New York-area cable company that is AMC’s former parent. The dispute involved not just transmission rights for AMC channels, but a defunct Cablevision programming service called Voom.
Revenue for the Englewood, Colo. company rose 2 percent to $3.6 billion from $3.52 billion.
Analysts polled by FactSet predicted earnings of 44 cents per share on revenue of $3.59 billion.
Dish closed at $47.50 on Monday. Year to date, the stock is up 31 percent.
