For the first time since June 4, 2024, iHeartMedia shares have fallen below the all-important $1 threshold, dipping 3.6% on Thursday ahead of the holiday weekend for U.S. financial markets. The decline comes as one financial blog in early April presented three reasons to sell “IHRT.”
With the Nasdaq market closed for the Easter holiday until April 21, iHeartMedia stock heads into the weekend priced at $0.9833.
That’s a substantial dip from a $2.61 close seen on December 6, 2024, and $2.27 per share seen as recently as February 28, 2025.
The rapid decline for iHeartMedia shares puts it in a place last seen in late May of last year, when IHRT dipped to $0.86 per share before beginning a recovery. This time around, a 38.5% decline in share value has been seen just in the last 30 days, with IHRT priced at $1.83 as recently as March 25.
With Q1 2025 earnings expected for a release in the second week of May and a market cap of $145.67 million, five analysts queried by Yahoo! Finance believe the nation’s biggest owner of radio stations will see first quarter revenue dip by 1.1%, with a consensus estimate of $790.17 million in place.
For Adam Hejl at StockStory, the decline in share value seen over the last six months was the basis for an analysis of iHeartMedia stock. He’s not a fan. “Even with the cheaper entry price, we’re ‘swiping left’ on iHeartMedia for now,” Hejl writes.
What are Hejl’s three reasons why “IHRT” doesn’t excite StockStory?
He’s not kind, noting that iHeartMedia “struggled to consistently increase demand as its $3.85 billion of sales for the trailing 12 months was close to its revenue five years ago. This was below our standards and is a sign of poor business quality.”
Hejl then looks at iHeartMedia’s earnings per share. “Sadly for iHeartMedia,” he notes, “its EPS declined by 15.9% annually over the last five years while its revenue was flat. This tells us the company struggled because its fixed cost base made it difficult to adjust to choppy demand.”
The “deal breaker” for StockStory? The $5.86 billion of debt iHeartMedia still needs to extinguish exceeds the $259.6 million of cash on its balance sheet. “This is a deal breaker for us because indebted loss-making companies spell trouble,” Hejl concludes. “Unless the iHeartMedia’s fundamentals change quickly, it might find itself in a position where it must raise capital from investors to continue operating. Whether that would be favorable is unclear because dilution is a headwind for shareholder returns. We remain cautious of iHeartMedia until it generates consistent free cash flow or any of its announced financing plans materialize on its balance sheet.”
