ACOM plunges on 4th quarter 2011 results

Traders in Ancestry.com stock, symbol ACOM, were less that favourably impressed following the company 4th quarter results released after the market closed on Wednesday. This was counter to the market overall, the NASDAQ gaining 1.5%.

Having closed at $28.52 on Wednesday ACOM dropped to $22.31 in the late morning, a 22% drop, still above the 52 week low of $20.67 last December. Afternoon trading saw a recovery to close at $23.83 and after hours up to $24.00.

The drop was a reaction the fourth quarter showing the number of subscribers up only slightly from the third quarter of 2011; monthly churn at 3.8% in the fourth quarter of 2011, a marginal improvement over 3.9% in the fourth quarter of 2010 and; subscriber acquisition cost increasing to $107.88, compared to $96.87 in the fourth quarter of 2010.

How much do you pay for your subscription? Ancestry gives average monthly revenue per subscriber as $18.38, compared to $17.78 in the fourth quarter of 2011.

Investor's Business Daily reported Ancestry CEO Tim Sullivan as saying the company is lowering its expectations for subscriber growth in the first two quarters this year because of weaker ratings for "Who Do You Think You Are?"

The first two episodes of the third season drew about 17% fewer viewers than the program did last year, Sullivan said.