HTC reports another three months of red ink for the second quarter of 2017

For nine consecutive three-month quarters, HTC has announced a loss. It makes you wonder how the company can afford to keep spending for the red-ink cartridges that they are using to print these reports. The just announced net loss for the second quarter of 2017 amounted to $64.23 million USD, a slight 3.9% improvement from the $66.87 million USD loss that HTC reported for the previous quarter. This works out to a loss of 7.8 U.S. cents a share for Q2 versus a loss of 8 U.S. cents a share for this year's first quarter. Gross margins declined to 13.7% from 16.3% during the same time period.

For the first half of 2017, HTC had a loss of $131.1 million USD, a 30% drop in red ink year-over-year. The net loss for the first 6-months of 2017 amounted to 16 U.S. cents a share.

The company's current flagship model, the HTC U11, has been warmly welcomed. The Edge Sense squeezable feature has been the recipient of kind words from users who simply squeeze the sides of the handset to open certain apps quickly and easily. The feature will also appear on HTC's next handset, the mid-range HTC U Life 11. Expected later this year, the device will feature a 5.2-inch display carrying a 1080 x 1920 resolution. A Snapdragon 630 chipset will be found under the hood.

Analysts expect more red ink from HTC when it reports its numbers for the current (third) quarter of 2017. From June to July 2017, revenues were down 10.16%, and from July 2016 to July 2017, HTC's sales were down 2.06%. For July, HTC took in $203.9 million in revenue.

The report rattled investors with HTC's shares down 9.06% to $2.05 USD on Monday.

source: Digitimes