Fox Corp. outpaced Wall Streets expectations on Tuesday after reporting higher-than-expected profits that were boosted by an industry-wide uptick in the advertising market.
The New York-based media giant earnings of $375 million, or 74 cents per share, according to its fourth-quarter earnings release. That number was up from $306 million in the same period one year ago.
On an adjusted basis excluding one-time expenses, the company reported earnings of 88 cents per share, higher than the 72 cents projected by Wall Street analysts.
Foxs quarterly revenue was $3.03 billion, a figure that matched last years results for the quarter and was in line with estimates.
“We enter fiscal ’24 from a position of strength despite headwinds facing our industry and the lingering effect of some macroeconomic uncertainty,” Fox Corp. CEO Lachlan Murdoch said during an earnings call.
Fox shares were up nearly 4% in mid-day trading.
The company’s quarterly ad revenue came in at $1.01 billion, down slightly compared to last year but still better than expected, according to estimates from research firm Visible Alpha.
The company said the 4% decrease in ad revenues occurred as continued growth at Tubi was more than offset by comparably lower political advertising revenues at the FOX Television Stations and the impact of elevated supply in the direct response marketplace at FOX News Media.
Underlying ad trends have shown signs of improvement over the last quarter, Murdoch added. We are seeing an uptick in scatter driven largely by sports and national news is solid.
Murdoch also expressed confidence in Fox News revamped primetime lineup. The shakeup occurred after the dismissal of former host Tucker Carlson earlier this year.
We are pleased with the initial results, and are confident that our deep bench of talent will continue to set the standard for all new services as we move towards the 2024 presidential election, Murdoch said.
In April, Fox reached a $787.5 million settlement with Dominion Voting Systems. The settlement did not impact its fourth-quarter results.
Through the end of the quarter, Fox had roughly $4.3 billion in cash and roughly $7.2 billion in debt.
Fox Corp. shares a common owner with News Corp, which owns The Post.
With Post wires
