The smart home initiatives at ADT (NYSE: ADT) continue to roll, reporting solid sales of its smart home controls as well as its new Amazon Alexa Guard integration.
In its latest quarterly report, the Boca Raton-based security giant reports that 80% of its residential installations for the quarter were its new Command and Control smart home system.
The company reports that 43% of its total residential install base is now using smart home systems, either Command and Control or its predecessor ADT Pulse. That figure is up from 38% one year ago. That is significant because ADT is able to command a higher monthly monitoring fee for its smart home equipment versus its traditional alarm-only options.
Meanwhile, the company reports the launch of its new Amazon Alexa Guard system went well, with 15,000 installations performed during the quarter integrated with either Command and Control or Pulse.
Alexa Guard turns Amazon's smart speakers into audio-analytics machines, recognizing and reacting to three distinct sounds (for now): smoke alarms, carbon monoxide alarms, and breaking glass.
The service is now available to all Echo customers in the United States. Users with ADT or Ring professional monitoring can set it up to forward alerts to alarm central stations. Alexa Guard is free but needs to be manually activated by users. It works like other sensors in a security ecosystem.
Upon set up, users can say “I’m leaving” to switch to Away mode and activate the alarm-listening feature. Users can say “I’m home” to switch Alexa Guard to Home mode. Users can also toggle between modes in the Guard section of the Alexa app.
ADT Total Q2 Revenues = $1.2B
In total, ADT had $1.28 billion in revenue for the quarter, up 13%. Its attrition rate fell to 13.3% from 13.5%. Total revenue of $1,284 million, up 13%. RMR was $351 million, which is $13 million more than the previous quarter.
The bottom line is still not profitable, with a net loss of $104 million for the quarter, up from $67 million last quarter. Adjusted EBITDA is $630 million, compared to $610 million.
James DeVries, president and CEO, told investors, “Summarizing our second quarter performance, we're pleased with our overall progress and driving strong revenue growth, balancing our core operating metrics and delivering healthy levels of adjusted EBITDA and free cash flow all while continuing to position and invest in our business for the future.”
Speaking about the growth of Command and Control, DeVries notes, “This is a positive outcome. We expect to continue to improve even further given the robust adoption rates today.”
Related: ADT Says 3G Sunset Is an Opportunity
In other news, the company has pilot programs currently in place with State Farm for their policy holders, and a new pilot in five cities for a financing option for Command and Control working with Citizens Financial Group.
ADT says customers are purchasing more comprehensive systems with the financing option in place. The company anticipates a national rollout in 2020. Also, the company inked a deal with BH Management Services to provide systems for 6,000 multi-family units.
Finally, ADT says it has 3.6 million 3G radio systems in the field that need to be converted, and admits it is still in the “early stage” for conversions. DeVries says the company is making “significant progress” on those conversions and estimates 50% of the conversions will be made during regular upgrade or service calls.
