Fox Corporation reported mixed fourth quarter results on Tuesday, reporting revenue of $3.09 billion, which just missed Wall Street estimates, as the company gears up for a major event cycle in fiscal 2025, including the presidential election.
Here are the top-line results:
Net income: $320 million, down from $369 million in 2023.
Revenue: $3.09 billion, an increase of 2% compared to $3.03 billion in the prior-year quarter. Analysts from Zack’s Investment Research estimated revenue of $3.1 billion.
Adjusted Earnings Per Share: 90 cents vs. 83 cents estimated by Zacks Analysts.
While affiliate fee revenues increased by 5% driven by growth in the company’s television segment and cable network programming segment, advertising revenues remained flat compared to the prior year quarter. This was primarily attributed to FOX Sports’ “Summer of Soccer”, including the broadcasts of the UEFA European Championship and CONMEBOL Copa América, along with continued growth at Tubi were offset by lower ratings and pricing at the FOX Network.
“Fiscal 2024 was another successful year for FOX with very clear achievements across our portfolio, including delivering strong total company affiliate revenue growth each quarter from our ongoing renewals, cementing Tubi’s position as the most watched free TV and movie streaming service in the United States, and generating reinvigorated ratings and share growth at FOX News,” executive chair and CEO Lachlan Murdoch said.
“We now carry this momentum into another major event cycle with fiscal 2025 featuring the Presidential Election and Super Bowl,” Murdoch continued. “The soundness of our strategy, the consistency of our delivery and the strength of our financial position have never distinguished us more and underpin our confidence in the future at FOX and in delivering shareholder value.”
During Tuesday’s shareholders call, Murdoch said that Fox News was the most-watched network in cable news throughout the quarter, “with 52% more minutes of viewing than its closest competitor.”
“Our foundation for this coming fiscal year is solid as we carry the momentum from fiscal 24 into another year of major events, particularly for our news and sports businesses,” the CEO continued.
Murdoch highlighted the recent news cycle, which he described as “nothing short of extraordinary,” arguing that “when news breaks, people turn to the news brand they trust.”
“The strength of our news coverage is unmatched, and Fox News remains the clear first choice for viewers during the most pivotal moments,” he added, as the network gears up for the 2024 presidential election.
Last week, Fox, Disney and Warner Bros. Discovery’s joint sports streaming venture Venu Sports, which is slated to launch this fall, announced a $42.99 per month price tag. While still subject to regulatory approvals, Venu is targeted at sports fans outside of the traditional TV bundle and will be available directly through a new app later this month, according to Murdoch.
Fox, Disney and WBD will each own a 1/3 stake, have equal board representation, and will license their sports content to the joint venture on a non-exclusive basis.
The offering will provide subscribers with thousands of live sports from all the major sports leagues and top college conferences and access to ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, SECN, ACCN, ESPNEWS, ABC, FOX, FS1, FS2, BTN, TNT, TBS, truTV, as well as ESPN+. Subscribers will also have the ability to bundle Venu with Disney+, Hulu or Max.
Hurdles to launch, however, could still be in the way as Fubo has filed an antitrust lawsuit against the sports streaming offering, alleging that the studio trio has engaged in a long-standing campaign of practices to block its business, Venu as the prime example. The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York will take up the matter during a preliminary injunction hearing starting on Aug. 6.
The post Fox Corporation Net Income Slips to $320 Million as Company Reports Mixed Q4 Results appeared first on TheWrap.
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