THE NUMBERS: Coinstar’s fourth-quarter earnings nearly tripled. The performance announced Monday was far better than analysts projected, driving up Coinstar’s stock in extended trading.
THE REASON: Its Redbox kiosks for renting DVDs picked up customers who stopped getting their discs through a rival service from Netflix Inc., which has been de-emphasizing its DVD-by-mail rental service to concentrate on expanding its Internet video library.
RELATED NEWS: Earlier, Coinstar announced a partnership with Verizon Communications Inc. to challenge Netflix in another home entertainment format — streaming video to TVs and other devices with high-speed Internet connections.
