NEW YORK — For many in Midtown Manhattan, the top news of the day involving FOX is its Upfront-related announcements that will see the animated series “American Dad!” return to the network it originated at while the Jane Lynch-helmed “Weakest Link” is picked up from NBC while a new version of “Fear Factor” is in the works.
For others, FOX Corporation’s fiscal third quarter earnings, released Monday morning, are the bigger story. Why? Both the broadcast and TV segments enjoyed strong growth in the quarter.
For the quarter, Television Segment Revenue grew to $2.7 billion, from $1.94 billion, as Cable Network Programming increased to $1.64 billion from $1.47 billion.
By component, advertising surged to $2.04 billion from $1.24 billion, topping affiliate fee revenue (rising to $2.01 billion from $1.94 billion.
Total it up, and FOX’s fiscal Q3 revenue grew to $4.37 billion, from $3.45 billion.
There’s just one snag: Operating expenses ballooned to $2.97 billion from $2.05 billion, as net income shrank to $346 million ($0.75 per share) from $666 billion ($1.40). On an adjusted basis, net income came in at $507 million ($1.10), from $520 million ($1.09). The adjusted EPS easily beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $0.96 per share.
Investors were pleased, sending FOXA on the Nasdaq GlobalSelect market up by 5% entering the noon hour.
Looking at the big picture, advertising revenues increased 65% for FOX, primarily due to the impact of Super Bowl LIX, continued digital growth led by the Tubi AVOD service, and stronger news ratings and pricing.
