Retrans Revenue Propels Sinclair In Q1

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Minutes after Wednesday’s Closing Bell for U.S. financial markets, Sinclair Inc. released its first quarter 2024 earnings report. How did the company that owns Dielectric, Compulse, and broadcast TV stations including WBFF-45 in its home market of Baltimore fare?


Core advertising revenue fell short of its guidance but “distribution revenue,” a.k.a. retransmission consent dollars, came in ahead of its own estimates. But did Sinclair’s Q1 2024 revenue meet Street expectations?

The consensus estimate of 7 analysts polled by Yahoo! Finance put revenue expectations at $801.31 million. And, Sinclair fell short, with its actual Q1 2024 revenue coming in at $798 million, up from $773 million one year earlier.

Core ad revenue came in at $297 million, while the expectation was a finish between $300 million-$308 million. That’s down from $306 million in Q1 2023. Retransmission consent dollars fueled distribution revenue of $436 million, surpassing the $431 million-$433 million range predicted by Sinclair Inc. That’s up from $426 million in Q1 ’23.

With adjusted EBITDA climbing to $136 million from $120 million, net income attributable to Sinclair fell to $25 million ($0.35 per share) from $185 million ($2.64 per diluted share).

Investors were pleased with the results, as SBGI, which trades on the Nasdaq GlobalSelect market, was up by more than 8% in immediate after-hours trading on Wednesday.

LOCAL MEDIA HOLDS IT OWN

While Local Media core ad dollars were down, excluding the Super Bowl and NCAA Final Four from the mix — along with “the temporary headwind from the sports betting category due to tough comps,” local media core advertising was up low-single-digits. Legal, pharmaceuticals and services (home repair/builders) were up year-over-year.

However, Automotive and Medical saw a slight miss on expected revenue versus guidance; a “slow sales environment” impacted Auto, Sinclair said ahead of an earnings call for analysts and investors late Wednesday.

Looking ahead at Q2 2024, Sinclair says Retail, Services and Entertainment are “pacing strong” as Medical and Pharmaceutical slightly are softer versus April 2023. As such, core advertising is forecast to rise between 2% and 6% in Q2 2024.