Fox Corp. beat Wall Street estimates with its fiscal third-quarter earnings report Wednesday, with revenue hitting $3.4 billion and net income growing to $704 million. The gain in profits was due to last year’s settlement at Fox News, combined with a gain on the value of its USFL assets, which it merged with the XFL to create the UFL.
Advertising revenue was down sharply in the quarter though to $1.2 billion from $1.9 billion a year ago, but that was because last year’s quarter included the Super Bowl. Affiliate fee revenue rose slightly to $1.9 billion.
Fox’s cable division, which is led by Fox News, posted revenue of $1.5 billion, down slightly from last year, while its TV division, led by the Fox broadcast network, had revenue of $1.9 billion, down more sharply from last year due to the Super Bowl comparison.
“Fox’s fiscal third-quarter results once again demonstrate how our unique strategy continues to distinguish Fox from our peers,” Fox CEO Lachlan Murdoch said in a statement. “The strength and leadership of our core brands, coupled with our focus on live content and must-have event programming, is clearly valued by our audiences, advertisers, and distribution partners. The consistent financial delivery from this strategy supports our investments in innovation which are driving momentum in our digital portfolio, led by Tubi. Our balanced capital allocation approach, fortified by our strong balance sheet, underpins our ability to drive long-term value creation for our shareholders.”
More to come.