Vonage shares soar on Q1 profit but watch for churn

Shares of Vonage Holdings Corp. soared on reports that the company had reported a net profit for its first quarter. But I can't imagine this Wall Street lovefest lasting long.

The company reported a net profit for the first quarter of $5 million, or 3 cents per share, on $224 million in sales. Revenue was flat from the year-ago quarter but income was up from a the year-ago quarter, when the company reported a net loss of $9 million, or 6 cents per share.

The first quarter income reflects a "$13 million mark-to-market adjustment relating to the derivative liability in the Company's convertible debt." Without the adjustment, the company's net loss would have been $8 million or $0.05 per share.

It's worth noting that churn rose to 3.1 percent from 2.9 percent, sequentially. The company lost 6,000 net subscribers in the quarter, bringing the total to less than 2.6 million.

Tough economic times should be an opportunity for Vonage to bring in customers with its cost-saving model - but bundled landline services from cable companies, as well as customers who continue to cut the landline and stick with a wireless phone, seems to playing into Vonage's ability to interest people in a VoIP model.

Vonage was able to wow Wall Street with bright and shiny numbers in the profit column - this time. Shares soared early and remain up more than 30 percent in regular trading.