Gaia Inc. reported total revenues were up 56 percent in the second quarter to $6.6 million

“The momentum in our business has continued to strengthen as we again exceeded our accelerated subscriber growth target, while customer acquisition costs continue to track below plan,” said Jirka Rysavy, Gaia’s CEO. “We also continued to grow our content library, ending the quarter at 8,000 titles.”

Gaia’s special report “Unearthing Nazca,“ part of a new series exploring a rare archeological discovery in Peru, has garnered over 60 million views on Gaia’s website, YouTube and other social channels. While initial discoveries are provided free of charge, this level of views demonstrates the size of the market interested in Gaia’s content.

Gaia’s paying subscriber count increased 64 percent to 277,800 on June 30, 2017 from 169,500 on June 30, 2016. This follows 58 percent year-over-year subscriber growth in the first quarter of 2017 and 45 percent growth in the second quarter of 2016. The company expects to further increase its year over year subscriber growth rate to 70 percent during the third quarter of 2017.

Second Quarter 2017 Financial Results
Total revenues in the second quarter increased 56 percent to $6.6 million from $4.2 million in the same year-ago quarter. This was due to 68 percent growth in streaming revenues, which was driven by the 64 percent increase in paying subscribers versus June 30, 2016.

Gross profit in the second quarter increased 64 percent to $5.6 million compared to $3.5 million in the year-ago quarter. Gross margin increased 390 basis points to 86.1 percent from 82.2 percent in the second quarter of 2016 due to increased revenues and the related leverage on streaming costs and Gaia’s media library.

Total operating expenses in the second quarter were $12 million compared to $6.4 million in the year-ago quarter. The increase was due to the planned increase in marketing expenses associated with the announced acceleration of subscriber growth throughout 2017.

Net loss in the second quarter was $6.3 million or 42 cents per share, compared to a net loss of $2.4 million or 10 cents per share in the year-ago quarter. The 2017 per share amount reflects Gaia’s repurchase of approximately 40 percent of its outstanding shares in July 2016.

As of June 30, 2017, the company had $36.9 million in cash, an unencumbered corporate campus and no debt.

Photo courtesy Gaia