Planet Fitness Q3 Earnings & Revenues Beat, '24 View Raised

Paramount Global PARA delivered adjusted earnings of 49 cents per share for the third quarter of 2024, which beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 104.2% and increased 63% from the year-ago quarter.

Revenues of $6.73 billion missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 5.6%. The figure declined 6% year over year, owing to softness in TV Media and Filmed Entertainment revenues.

Adjusted OIBDA rose 20% from the year-ago quarter’s level to $858 million.

Selling, general and administrative expenses decreased 11.8% year over year to $1.53 billion.

The company expects the Skydance transaction to close in the first half of 2025.

Paramount Global Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise

Paramount Global price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | Paramount Global Quote

Revenues by Type

Advertising revenues (32.3% of total revenues) of $2.17 billion grew 1.9% year over year. Affiliate revenues (47.8% of total revenues) of $3.21 billion declined 1.4% year over year. Theatrical revenues (1.6% of total revenues) totaled $108 million in the reported quarter, which declined 71.4% year over year. Content-licensing revenues (18.3% of total revenues) of $1.23 billion decreased 9.3% year over year.

Segment Details

DTC Details

DTC revenues jumped 10% year over year to $1.86 billion. DTC subscription revenues grew 7%, driven by year-over-year subscriber growth and pricing increases for Paramount+.

DTC profitability improved significantly year over year. Sports, including the return of the NFL and UEFA, originals like Tulsa King, which saw the biggest global debut in platform history for season 2, and Mayor of Kingstown, as well as post-theatrical releases, such as A Quiet Place: Day One and IF, all drove acquisition in the quarter. Pluto TV continues to benefit from strong engagement resulting in increased monetization.

DTC advertising revenues rose 18%, reflecting growth from Paramount+ and Pluto TV.

Paramount+ revenues grew 25%, driven by year-over-year subscriber growth and ARPU expansion. Paramount+ subscribers increased 3.5 million in the quarter to 72 million. Paramount+ global ARPU expanded 11% year over year.

DTC adjusted OIBDA increased $287 million year over year to $49 million, reflecting revenue growth and cost efficiencies.

TV Media Details

TV Media revenues decreased 6% year over year to $4.29 billion, primarily due to lower affiliate revenues and fluctuations in licensing revenues.

TV Media advertising revenues decreased 2%, reflecting declines in the linear advertising market, partially offset by higher political advertising and the recognition of revenues underreported by an international sales partner in prior periods.

TV Media affiliate and subscription revenues decreased 7%, driven by subscriber declines and a 2-percentage point decrease from the absence of pay-per-view boxing events, partially offset by price increases.

TV Media licensing and other revenues decreased 12%, reflecting a lower volume of licensing in the secondary market.

TV Media adjusted OIBDA decreased 19% to $936 million.

TV Media benefited from a powerful combination of sports, news and entertainment. CBS live news channels saw strong growth in minutes viewed year over year. The Daily Show continued to grow across streaming, linear and social platforms, MTV’s Video Music Awards had its biggest audience in four years, and The Challenge delivered its highest share in franchise history.

Filmed Entertainment Details

Filmed Entertainment revenues decreased 34% year over year to $590 million. Theatrical revenues plunged 71%, reflecting the number and timing of releases in the quarter compared with the prior year.

Licensing and other revenues decreased 6%, as lower revenue from home entertainment and the licensing of film library titles were partially offset by higher studio facility revenues compared to last year, which was impacted by the labor strikes.

The company reported negative Adjusted OIBDA of $54 million.

Paramount Pictures’ diverse film slate continued to deliver with the success of A Quiet Place: Day One, which set a franchise record for the biggest opening at the global box office and has grossed $261 million worldwide to date. Transformers One has grossed $127 million at the global box office to date.

Balance Sheet

As of Sept. 30, 2024, Paramount Global had cash and cash equivalents of $2.44 billion compared with $2.31 billion as of June 30, 2024. Total debt, as of Sept. 30, 2024, was $14.6 billion, which remained unchanged sequentially.

Zacks Rank & Stocks to Consider

Paramount Global currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).

Some better-ranked stocks in the Consumer Discretionary sector are Madison Square Garden Entertainment Corp. MSGE, Carnival CCL and Flexsteel Industries FLXS, each sporting a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) at present. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Shares of MSGE have gained 35.5% year to date. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for MSGE’s fiscal 2025 revenues is pegged at $978.29 million, indicating a year-over-year increase of 1.98%. The consensus mark for earnings is pegged at $1.66 per share, which has gained 2 cents in the past 30 days.

Shares of Carnival have gained 27.9% year to date. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for CCL’s 2024 revenues is pegged at $25.19 billion, indicating a year-over-year increase of 16.63%. The consensus mark for earnings is pegged at $1.31 per share, which has increased 2.3% in the past 30 days.

Shares of Flexsteel have gained 217.2% year to date. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for FLXS’s fiscal 2025 revenues is pegged at $433.08 million, indicating a year-over-year increase of 4.92%. The consensus mark for earnings is pegged at $3.25 per share, which has increased 8.3% in the past 30 days.

Zacks Investment Research

News Corporation NWSA reported first-quarter fiscal 2025 earnings of 21 cents per share, which beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 31.25% and increased 31.25% year over year.

NWSA’s earnings beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate in all the trailing four quarters, the average surprise being 24.7%.

Find the latest EPS estimates and surprises on Zacks Earnings Calendar.

Revenues of $2.58 billion increased 3.1% year over year and beat the consensus mark by 0.63%. The improvement was driven by growth in the Digital Real Estate Services, Book Publishing and Dow Jones segments.

News Corporation Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise

News Corporation price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | News Corporation Quote

Following first-quarter earnings, NWSA shares were up 0.1% in after-hours trading. NWSA shares have gained 18.8% year to date (YTD), outperforming the Zacks Consumer Discretionary sector’s return of 27.6%.

NWSA’s Quarterly Details

Adjusted revenues (which exclude the impact of foreign currency, acquisitions and divestitures) increased 2% year over year.

Total EBITDA increased 14% to $415 million, primarily due to strong contributions from REA Group within the Digital Real Estate Services segment. The increase was partly offset by higher costs at the Subscription Video Services, driven by Hubbl product.

NWSA’s Segment Details

Digital Real Estate Services

Revenues in the Digital Real Estate Services segment increased 13% to $457 million, driven by strong performance at REA Group. Adjusted revenues and adjusted Segment EBITDA increased 11% and 13%, respectively.

Revenues in Move fell 1% to $140 million, mainly due to lower real estate revenues. Representing 77% of total Move revenues, real estate revenues decreased 4% year over year, owing to the continued impact of the macroeconomic environment on the housing market, including higher mortgage rates, which has led to lower lead and transaction volumes.

Based on Move’s internal data, average monthly unique users of Realtor.com’s web and mobile sites grew 2% year over year at 77 million. Lead volume was down 1% year over year.

Revenues at REA Group rose 22% to $318 million, driven by higher Australian residential revenues due to price increases, improved depth penetration, a surge in national listings, a 3% positive impact from foreign currency fluctuations and increased revenue from REA India.

Australian national residential buy listing volumes in the reported quarter increased 7% year over year, with listings in Sydney and Melbourne up 11% and 9%, respectively.

Subscription Video Services

The Subscription Video Services segment’s revenues were $501 million, up 3% year over year, primarily attributed to higher revenues from Kayo and BINGE from increases in both volume and pricing and a 2% favorable impact from foreign currency fluctuation, mostly offset by the impact of fewer residential broadcast subscribers. Adjusted revenues of $490 million were up 1% year over year.

Foxtel Group streaming subscription revenues represented approximately 34% of total circulation and subscription revenues in the fiscal first quarter compared with 30% in the prior-year quarter.

Broadcast subscriber churn in the quarter was 11% compared with 11.4% in the prior-year quarter, driven by a recent price and packaging simplification. Broadcast ARPU increased 4% year over year to A$89 (US$60).

Dow Jones

Revenues at the Dow Jones segment increased 3% year over year to $552 million, driven by an increase in professional information business and higher content licensing revenues. Digital revenues at Dow Jones in the fiscal first quarter represented 82% of total revenues compared with 81% in the year-ago quarter. Adjusted revenues rose 2%.

Circulation and subscription revenues rose 5%, primarily driven by an 8% increase in professional information business revenues, led by 16% growth in Risk & Compliance revenues to $81 million and a jump of 11% in Dow Jones Energy revenues to $68 million.

Circulation revenues inched up 1% year over year due to the continued growth in digital-only subscriptions but was offset by lower print volume. Digital circulation revenues accounted for 72% of circulation revenues for the quarter compared with 70% in the year-ago quarter.

Advertising revenues decreased 7%, primarily due to a 5% decline in digital advertising revenues and a 10% decline in print advertising revenues. Digital advertising accounted for 67% of total advertising revenues compared to 66% in the prior-year quarter.

During the fiscal first quarter, total average subscriptions to Dow Jones’ consumer products were above 5.9 million, representing an 11% increase compared with the year-ago quarter. Digital-only subscriptions to Dow Jones’ consumer products grew 15%.

Total subscriptions to The Wall Street Journal grew 7% year over year to nearly 4.3 million average subscriptions in the quarter. Digital-only subscriptions to The Wall Street Journal grew 10% to more than 3.8 million average subscriptions and represented 90% of its total subscriptions.

Book Publishing

The Book Publishing segment reported revenues of $546 million, which increased 4% year over year from the prior-year quarter’s level, primarily due to higher backlist and digital book sales and improved returns.

Key titles in the quarter included Hillbilly Elegy by J.D. Vance, A Death in Cornwall by Daniel Silva and The Au Pair Affair by Tessa Bailey.

Digital sales rose 15% year over year, driven by a 26% increase in audiobook sales, which benefited from the continued contribution from the Spotify partnership and strong market conditions, as well as a 7% year-over-year increase in e-book sales. Digital sales represented 25% of Consumer revenues compared with 22% in the prior year. Backlist sales represented approximately 64% of Consumer revenues in the quarter compared with 61% in the prior-year quarter.

News Media

Revenues in the News Media segment fell 5% to $521 million, primarily due to lower other revenues generated from the transfer of third-party printing revenue contracts to News UK and DMG’s joint venture, as well as low advertising revenues. Adjusted revenues for the segment decreased 7% compared with the year-ago quarter.

Within the segment, revenues at News Corp Australia decreased 2% due to lower circulation revenues. News UK decreased 9% year over year due to lower advertising revenues.

Circulation and subscription revenues decreased $4 million in the reported quarter, primarily due to lower print volumes partially offset by the cover price increases.

Advertising revenues decreased 5% compared with the prior year, primarily due to lower print advertising at News Corp Australia and a decline in digital advertising at News UK due to a fall in traffic at some mastheads due to platform-related changes.

Digital revenues represented 39% of News Media segment revenues in the fiscal first quarter compared with 37% in the prior-year quarter and represented 37% of the combined revenues of the newspaper mastheads.

As of Sept. 30, 2024, The Times and Sunday Times closing digital subscribers, including the Times Literary Supplement, were 600K compared with 572K in the year-ago quarter. New York Post’s digital network reached 103 million unique users in September 2024 compared with 127 million in the prior year. The Sun’s digital offering reached 80 million global monthly unique users in September 2024 compared with 134 million in the prior year.

Other Financial Aspects

News Corporation ended the fiscal first quarter with cash and cash equivalents of $1.78 billion, borrowings of $2.7 billion and stockholder equity of $8.25 billion.

Zacks Rank & Stocks to Consider

NWSA currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).

Shares of NWSA have gained 26.3% year to date compared with the Zacks Consumer Discretionary sector’s increase of 7.4% in the same time frame.

Some other top-ranked stocks from the broader sector that investors can consider are Madison Square Garden Entertainment Corp. MSGE, Carnival CCL and Flexsteel Industries FLXS, each sporting a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) at present. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Shares of MSGE have gained 35.5% year to date. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for MSGE’s fiscal 2025 revenues is pegged at $978.29 million, indicating a year-over-year increase of 1.98%. The consensus mark for earnings is pegged at $1.66 per share, which has gained 2 cents over the past 30 days.

Shares of Carnival have gained 27.9% year to date. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for CVL’s 2024 revenues is pegged at $25.19 billion, indicating a year-over-year increase of 16.63%. The consensus mark for earnings is pegged at $1.31 per share, which has increased 2.3% over the past 30 days.

Shares of Flexsteel have gained 217.2% year to date. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for FLXS’s fiscal 2025 revenues is pegged at $433.08 million, indicating a year-over-year increase of 4.92%. The consensus mark for earnings is pegged at $3.25 per share, which has increased 8.3% over the past 30 days.

Zacks Investment Research

TEGNA’s TGNA third-quarter 2024 non-GAAP earnings of 94 cents per share beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 13.25% and increased 141.02% on a year-over-year basis.

TGNA’s earnings beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate in three of the four trailing quarters, while missing once, with the average surprise being 3.22%.

Find the latest EPS estimates and surprises on Zacks Earnings Calendar.

Revenues increased 13% year over year to $806.8 million, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 1.82%. The year-over-year increase was primarily due to strength in political advertising dollars and positive growth in subscription and advertising and marketing services revenues.

Following third-quarter earnings, TGNA shares were down 0.36% in after-hours trading. TGNA’s shares have gained 26.2% year to date (YTD), outperforming the Zacks Computer & Technology sector’s return of 7.4%.

During the third quarter, TEGNA returned more than $90 million of capital to shareholders with $70 million of share repurchases, representing 4.9 million shares, and paid $21 million in dividends.

TEGNA Inc. Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise

TEGNA Inc. price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | TEGNA Inc. Quote

Quarter in Details

Advertising and Marketing Services revenues (38.78% of total revenues) increased 0.17% year over year to $312.9 million, primarily due to increased advertising related to the Summer Olympic Games, partially offset by political crowding out.

Subscription revenues (44.1% of total revenues) decreased 6% year over year to $356 million due to a decline in subscribers, partially offset by contractual rate increases.

Political revenues (15.6% of total revenues) were $126 million, a new third-quarter record, up from $11.6 million reported in the year-ago period. Full-year political advertising revenues through Election Day totaled $375 million.

Other revenues (3% of total revenues) were $11 million, up 0.3% year over year.

Non-GAAP adjusted EBITDA increased 62.4% year over year to $269.5 million. Adjusted EBITDA margin expanded 1014 basis points (bps) from the year-ago period to 33.4%.

Non-GAAP operating expenses (70.2% of total revenues) of $566 million were down 1.6% year over year. This decrease was due to a reduction in programming expenses and core cost initiatives.

Non-GAAP operating income increased 75% year over year to $223 million. The operating margin expanded 1052 bps from the year-ago period to 29.81%.

Balance Sheet & Cash Flow

As of Sept. 30, 2024, total cash and cash equivalents were $536 million.

Total debt was $2.55 billion, and net leverage was 2.8 times as of Sept. 30, 2024.

Adjusted free cash flow in the third quarter was $211.4 million compared with $121 million reported in the previous quarter.

Outlook

For the fourth quarter of 2024, Tegna expects total GAAP revenues to increase 19-21%.

Non-GAAP operating expenses are estimated to increase 1-3% in the fourth quarter 2024.

For the full-year 2024, TGNA expects the net leverage ratio to be below 3X. The company expects 2024/2025 two-year adjusted FCF between $900 million and $1.1 billion.

Zacks Rank & Key Picks

TEGNA carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) at present.

Shares of TGNA have gained 26.3% year to date compared with the Zacks Consumer Discretionary sector’s increase of 7.4% in the same time frame.

Some better-ranked stocks from the broader sector that investors can consider are Madison Square Garden Entertainment Corp. MSGE, Carnival CCL and Flexsteel Industries FLXS, each sporting a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) at present. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Shares of MSGE have gained 35.5% year to date. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for MSGE’s fiscal 2025 revenues is pegged at $978.29 million, indicating a year-over-year increase of 1.98%. The consensus mark for earnings is pegged at $1.66 per share, which has gained 2 cents over the past 30 days.

Shares of Carnival have gained 27.9% year to date. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for CVL’s 2024 revenues is pegged at $25.19 billion, indicating a year-over-year increase of 16.63%. The consensus mark for earnings is pegged at $1.31 per share, which has increased 2.3% over the past 30 days.

Shares of Flexsteel have gained 217.2% year to date. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for FLXS’ fiscal 2025 revenues is pegged at $433.08 million, indicating a year-over-year increase of 4.92%. The consensus mark for earnings is pegged at $3.25 per share, which has increased 8.3% over the past 30 days.

Zacks Investment Research