NEW YORK — FOX Corporation on Thursday released its financial results for the first quarter of its 2024 fiscal year. On first glance, the big takeaway is that a soft advertising market is impacting its revenue. However, a closer look at the company’s fiscal health report indicates that higher expenses are the culprit for a quarter that could have been better, and perhaps worse.
On a consolidated basis, revenue in fiscal Q1 2024 rose to $3.21 billion from $3.19 billion.
Here’s the biggest issue for FOX: Operating expenses on an consolidated basis surged to $1.86 billion from $1.66 billion, resulting in a net income decline to $415 million ($0.82 per share) from $613 million ($1.10). On an adjusted basis, income declined to $537 million ($1.09 per share) from $670 million ($1.21).
Adjusted EBITDA came in at $869 million, falling from $1.09 billion.
Some 18 analysts polled by Yahoo! Finance weighed in with forecasts for fiscal Q1, and their EPS average was $1.03. The revenue estimate was $3.18 billion. As such, FOX beat the street in its first three months of fiscal 2024.
But, how did the Television segment perform in fiscal Q1?
Advertising and Affiliate fee revenue each climbed — good news in a challenging environment for the audio entertainment industry. But, higher operating expenses chilled the growth.
What fueled the ad growth? The Women’s World Cup at FOX Sports was a winner, the company said. Increased advertiser interest in the Tubi OTT platform is also helping FOX. But, a ratings decrease at the FOX network offset that growth.
The Cable Networks didn’t fare as well in fiscal Q1 2024, with revenue dips across every category.
Shares of “FOXA” were up slightly in mid-morning trading on Wall Street.
