On April 3, Townsquare Media announced that it will release its financial results for the first quarter of 2024 as the sun rises on the East Coast of the U.S. on Thursday, May 9. And, as has been tradition for CEO Bill Wilson and the rest of the executive leadership team, an 8am Eastern conference call for analysts and investors will be held.
Following Thursday’s Closing Bell on Wall Street, a peer in the broadcast radio industry shared when it will release its Q1 2024 report and hold its earnings call. It’s at the same exact time as that of Townsquare Media, resulting in a challenging situation for analysts as Wilson and CFO Stu Rosenstein find themselves competing for attention against Bob Pittman and Rich Bressler.
Indeed, iHeartMedia has decided to release its Q1 2024 earnings report prior to the Opening Bell on Wall Street on Thursday, May 9.
And, iHeart will host its earnings call for analysts and investors at 8am Eastern.
Asked about the conflict, Wilson told RBR+TVBR, “We have no plans to change our existing date.”
Wendy Goldberg, Chief Communications Officer at iHeartMedia, was asked to confirm the date and time of the company’s Q1 call. “Yes, this is accurate,” she replied.
Thus, two of the radio industry’s biggest publicly traded companies will be jockeying for attention from the investment community at a fragile time for AM and FM station ownership groups. For Townsquare Media, its $12 stock price as of 11am Eastern on Friday is near the high end of a six-month trend for “TSQ,” which trades on the NYSE. On April 8 a $13.11 closing price was seen, up from $8.19 on October 27, 2023. Townsquare shares have a 1-year target price of $16.83.
In contrast, iHeartMedia shares have been on a rollercoaster ride, and in Friday’s trading were trending toward its second-lowest closing price for the last six months, with Nasdaq activity placing “IHRT” at $1.85 at 11am Eastern. This compares to $3.02 on December 4, 2023. The 1-year target price for IHRT is $2.72.
Some 5 analysts polled by Yahoo! Finance offered earnings per share estimates, and this puts the EPS consensus for Q1 2024 at -$0.56 per share, improving from -$1.50 in the year-ago period. Six analysts offered their estimates on revenue for the first quarter, and the consensus comes in at $805.21 million, reflecting 1.1% year-over-year growth.
