Fox Corporation reported a net loss of $50 million, or 10 cents per share, for its fiscal third quarter of 2023 on Tuesday, compared with net income of $290 million reported in the previous year
quarter. Adjusted for one-time items, the company earned 94 cents per share.
“The difference was primarily due to charges associated with legal settlement costs at Fox News Media, which were partially offset by the higher fair value of the company’s investments,” the company noted in its quarterly earnings release.
Total revenue came in at $4.08 billion, up 18% from the $3.46 billion reported in the previous year.
quarter. Advertising revenue increased 43%, primarily reflecting the impact of Super Bowl LVII, higher volume of NFL games and continued growth in Tubi. Affiliate fee revenue increased 3% with a 9% increase in the television segment. Revenues in the other segment were essentially unchanged from the prior year quarter.
Analysts polled by Zacks Investment Research were expecting earnings of 88 cents per share on revenue of $4.04 billion.
The latest quarterly results come after Fox reached a $787.5 million settlement with Dominion Voting Systems in April.
The Denver-based voting technology firm accused a top Fox News host and some network guests of defaming the company after they suggested its machines were hacked or compromised during the 2020 presidential election.
Fox, which vehemently denied any wrongdoing, informed investors of the settlement but offered few details on its broader financial implications for the company. The company may be able to write off a significant portion of the expense from its taxes.
“Our fiscal third quarter once again demonstrated the effectiveness of Fox’s strategy to leverage the power of engaging live events to deliver to our viewers, advertisers and distributors,” said Chief Executive Officer Lachlan Murdoch. “Against a backdrop of broad economic uncertainty, our portfolio of leadership brands combined with our balance sheet strength allows us to remain focused on creating shareholder value over the long term.”
In the Cable Network Programming segment, revenue came in at $1.57 billion compared to $1.58 billion during the same period a year ago. Affiliate fee revenue was broadly in line with the prior year quarter as the impact of net subscriber declines was nearly offset by contractual value increases. Advertising revenue was $316 million compared to $339 million in the prior year quarter, partly due to the continued impact of improved supply in the direct response market at FOX News Media
offset by the broadcast of the World Baseball Classic on Fox Sports. Other revenue increased by $14 million or 10%, primarily due to higher FOX Nation subscription revenue. The segment posted EBITDA of $792 million, compared to $864 million in the prior year quarter.
Meanwhile, the television segment reported revenue of $2.48 billion, an increase of $655 million or 36% from the prior year quarter. Advertising revenue increased by $590 million or 61%, primarily due to the airing of Super Bowl LVII and higher volume of NFL games on Fox Sports, as well as continued growth in Tubi. Affiliate fee revenue increased by $64 million or 9% due to higher rates at both company-owned and operated stations and third-party FOX affiliates. Segment posted EBITDA
$117 million, an increase of $82 million from the prior year quarter.
Fox’s Class A shares rose more than 3% in pre-market trading on Tuesday. The company, which has authorized a $7 billion stock repurchase program, has repurchased approximately $3.4 billion of its Class A common stock and approximately $1 billion of its Class B common stock to date.
