Fox Corp. exceeded Wall Street expectations in the October-to-December quarter, riding a surge of advertising revenue from news and sports.
The company posted earnings per share of 81 cents and revenue of $5.08 billion in its fiscal second quarter, which ended December 31.
Wall Street analysts’ consensus forecast was for revenue of $4.82 billion (+14%) and earnings per share of 64 cents (up from 34 cents in the year-earlier quarter).
The October-to-December quarter included significant ad revenue from the presidential campaign as well as significant ad sales tied to Major League Baseball playoffs, college football and the NFL. Total ad revenue jumped 21% from the prior-year period. Fox Sports will carry the Super Bowl this Sunday, airing it on linear TV and also streaming it live on Tubi.
The ad jump was felt more in the cable unit than on the broadcast side, with Fox News propelling a 32% increase in the Cable Network Programming division. The flagship broadcast networks and local stations generated a 19% upturn in the Television unit.
“Whether measured in terms of engagement, monetization or profitability, our focused strategy of live news and sports programming, coupled with our growing digital initiatives, continues to deliver,” CEO Lachlan Murdoch said in the earnings release.
One significant piece of news that occurred outside of the quarter will likely be raised by Wall Street analysts during the quarterly conference call with executives: the demise of streaming joint venture Venu Sports. After pay-TV operator Fubo challenged it in court on antitrust grounds, Venu was scrapped by backers Fox, Disney and Warner Bros. Discovery in early January, before it ever launched. Disney also acquired majority control of Fubo as part of a settlement of the lawsuit.
