Vizio, which agreed to be bought by Walmart for $2.3 billion, reported big gains in platform and advertising revenue in the fourth quarter.
Vizio’s net income was $13.2 million, or 7 cents a share, up 110% from $6.3 million, or 3 cents a share, a year ago.
Revenue dropped 6% to $502.6 million.
Gross profit for Vizio’s Platform Plus business, which includes its data and advertising operations, rose 27% to $105.4 million. Revenue rose 28% to $174.2 million.
Advertising revenue grew 36%. In a statement CEO William Wang attributed the increase to growth from large ad categories, such as financial services, insurance, retail, and CPG. Wang added that the recently challenged Media & Entertainment category was up almost 20% year-over-year.
Overall advertising growth was supported by a 32% increase in direct advertising relationships.
“Over the past year, we have significantly improved the user experience, expanded our content offering, and created valuable ways for our advertising partners to connect with our growing user base,” Wang said.
Because of the proposed acquisition, Vizio did not hold a conference call with analysts and investors.
SmartCast active accounts rose 6% to 18.5 million. Total Vizio hours rose 5% to 9.4 billion, which SmartCast horse jumped 15% to 5.5 billion hours.
Average revenue per SmartCast user rose 15% to $32.48.
Vizio’s device business lost $7.3 million, compared to a gross profit of $2.9 million a year ago. Revenues fell 17% to $328.4 million.
Smart TV shipments fell 12% to 1.3 million.
In a note to shareholders, Vizio founder William Wang said Vizion has worked closely with Walmart for many years.
Walmart was a leading seller of Vizio TV. After the acquisition, Walmart will be taking advantage of Vizio’s data and advertising businesses to further build its own retail media business.
“At Vizio, we have built an advertising product and client service organization committed to developing products that meet the challenges and needs of today’s advertisers. Our performance continues to showcase that we understand our customers and their repeat business reflects that,” Wang said.
“We want to thank our board, our management team, and the entire VIZIO family for their dedication and support to arrive at this point. While we still have more work to do to finalize and close the transaction, we look forward to the many opportunities ahead as we embark on this next chapter together,” he said.
