Shares of Acacia Research Corp. continued to slide Friday, a day after the Newport Beach-based company reported second-quarter revenue and net income that missed Wall Street expectations.
Investors sent shares down about 11% in early afternoon trading to a market value of $1.08 billion as the company also indicated legal fees in the quarter spiked from a year earlier.
Acacia licenses patents from its own portfolio and for other companies, typically splitting sales, licensing fees and court settlements with patent holders.
The company also buys patents outright rather than licensing technology on behalf of companies.
Revenue in the recently ended quarter topped $23.1 million, down 54.2% from a year ago.
Analysts on average had forecast revenue of about $70 million.
The company posted adjusted net income of $6.48 million, down 69% from a year ago.
Wall Street had expected net income of about $21.1 million.
Litigation and licensing expenses nearly doubled $9.9 million. Acacia attributed the rise to increasing enforcement and prosecution costs, and higher consulting expenses on new licensing programs.
On Thursday the company also announced its board approved a second-quarter cash dividend of about 12 cents a share, which didn’t sway investor sentiment.
Last week Acacia announced the promotion of company veteran Matthew Vella to chief executive.
Vella, 42, who joined Acacia in 2006, will succeed Paul Ryan, who is set to retire at the end of the month.
Ryan, 68, oversaw the company’s growth and expansion into new markets during his 16 years at the helm.