FOX Q3 Earnings Call Highlights
FOX (NASDAQ:FOX) reported fiscal third-quarter revenue of $4 billion and adjusted EBITDA of $954 million, up 11% from a year earlier, as executives said distribution revenue growth, FOX News advertising strength and digital momentum helped offset the absence of last year’s Super Bowl broadcast.
Executive Chair and Chief Executive Officer Lachlan Murdoch said the quarter reflected “unabated momentum across the business,” citing growth in distribution revenue and underlying advertising trends. Advertising revenue declined on a reported basis because the company was comparing against the prior-year quarter, when it aired Super Bowl LIX. Excluding the Super Bowl and other NFL postseason schedule changes, Murdoch said companywide advertising revenue would have grown at a double-digit rate.
Chief Financial Officer Steve Tomsic said net income attributable to Fox stockholders was $166 million, or $0.38 per share, compared with $346 million, or $0.75 per share, in the prior-year period. Adjusted net income was $570 million, and adjusted earnings per share rose 20% to $1.32 from $1.10 a year earlier.
Distribution Revenue Rises as Fox One Contributes
Total distribution revenue increased 3% in the quarter. Tomsic said cable distribution revenue rose 5% as pricing gains more than offset net subscriber declines, which remained stable at under 6.5% across third-party distributors before including Fox One.
Murdoch said Fox One, the company’s direct-to-consumer service, has exceeded expectations in subscriber additions and retention. He said the company is taking a conservative approach by not including Fox One subscribers in its reported third-party subscriber decline figure because the service is still in its early stages.
“We’re really not seeing a tremendous amount of churn within Fox One to date,” Murdoch said, adding that more than half of Fox One viewing in the quarter came from news content.
Tomsic said Fox One made a “significant contribution” to subscriber trends and revenue across cable affiliate and television distribution. He said Fox has just over one-third of its distribution income up for renewal in fiscal 2027, skewed toward television, and said the company feels “very good” about distribution revenue growth heading into next year.
Fox News Advertising Hits Third-Quarter Record
Murdoch said Fox News achieved its highest third-quarter advertising revenue ever. He said Fox News Channel finished the quarter as the most-watched cable network in both total day and prime time, and that April delivered year-over-year total audience growth. He also said Fox News Digital posted double-digit growth in both YouTube and social media views.
During the question-and-answer session, Murdoch said Fox News added 200 new premium advertising clients in fiscal 2026, following 350 new clients in fiscal 2025. He said that demand has helped lift CPMs and national pricing for Fox News by more than 45%, though he said there remains a gap compared with broadcast network pricing.
More broadly, Murdoch described the advertising market as healthy heading into the company’s upfront presentation. He said Fox is seeing low option exercise rates, limited cancellations and healthy scatter pricing. He identified pharmaceutical, technology and finance as categories expected to grow in the upfront market.
Murdoch also pointed to political advertising as a potential tailwind, saying third-party estimates put the midterm political ad market at $11 billion. He said Fox is already seeing record political revenue for an off-year period and expects its stations in battleground states such as Florida and Georgia, as well as issue advertising in states such as California, to benefit.
Sports Calendar Includes NFL Additions and World Cup
Fox Sports delivered several audience gains in the quarter, according to Murdoch. He said the World Baseball Classic on Fox saw average ratings rise more than 150% versus the 2023 tournament, with more than 10 million viewers for the final. Major League Baseball’s opening weekend on Fox was up 45% from last year, and IndyCar ratings were up 37% as of quarter-end.
Murdoch also highlighted the conclusion of the NFL season, saying more than 170 million viewers watched regular-season NFL games on Fox during the 2025-2026 season. The NFC Championship game averaged more than 46 million viewers.
Fox also acquired rights to two additional regular-season NFL games for the coming season. Murdoch said the first will air in Week 10 and is expected to be the overseas game from Munich, giving Fox a Sunday tripleheader that he said would be the first such tripleheader on broadcast television. The second will be a Saturday game in Week 15.
Asked about the company’s relationship with the NFL, Tomsic said there is “no tension really with the NFL,” noting that Fox has been a partner for 30 years and has four years remaining on its current deal. He said Fox has had no substantive discussions with the league about extending the current agreement, despite press speculation.
Fox is also preparing to carry the FIFA Men’s World Cup, which Murdoch described as the biggest sporting event of the year. The tournament will include 104 matches over five weeks, and Murdoch said Fox will deliver the most matches ever on U.S. broadcast television. Tubi will simulcast the opening matches, including the first U.S. match, and host a World Cup hub.
Tomsic said the financial impact of the World Cup will be roughly split between the current fiscal fourth quarter and the first quarter of fiscal 2027. He said the event should be revenue- and EBITDA-accretive for broadcast and accretive to EBITDA for the company overall.
Tubi Revenue Grows 23%
Tubi revenue rose 23% in the quarter, while total view time increased 19%, Murdoch said. He said the platform now has nearly 100 million monthly active users and continues to gain traction from library content, Tubi originals and creator-led titles.
Murdoch said Tubi features more than 220 creators with over 17,000 episodes, and the company plans to expand its creator content because it attracts younger audiences and supports retention.
Tomsic said Tubi was slightly better than break-even in the quarter, marking three consecutive quarters at break-even or better. He said companywide digital investments are pacing below last year’s level and that Fox expects full-year digital investment to be “comfortably inside” the $290 million spent last year.
Segment Results and Capital Returns
Fox’s cable segment reported 6% revenue growth and adjusted EBITDA of $884 million, up 1%. Cable advertising revenue rose 5%, driven by national pricing strength at Fox News and the World Baseball Classic at Fox Sports. Cable content and other revenue increased 24% on higher Fox Sports sub-licensing revenue, while expenses rose 13% due mainly to higher Fox Sports rights amortization.
The television segment generated $2.2 billion in quarterly revenue. Television advertising revenue fell 30%, as growth led by Tubi and an additional NFL Wild Card game was more than offset by the absence of Super Bowl LIX, which generated more than $800 million in gross advertising revenue in the prior-year quarter. Television EBITDA was $191 million, more than three times the year-earlier level, as expenses fell 24%.
Fox generated free cash flow of $1.77 billion in the quarter. Tomsic said the result was consistent with the company’s seasonal working capital cycle. Fiscal year to date, Fox has repurchased $1.95 billion of stock, bringing cumulative repurchases since 2019 to more than $8.5 billion, or about 36% of total shares outstanding. The company ended the quarter with approximately $3.6 billion in cash and $6.6 billion in debt.
About FOX (NASDAQ:FOX)
Fox Corporation (NASDAQ:Fox) is a U.S.-based media company that operates television broadcast, news and sports businesses. The company traces its contemporary structure to the 2019 reorganization that followed the sale of certain entertainment assets to The Walt Disney Company; Fox Corporation retained a portfolio centered on the Fox Broadcasting Company, Fox Television Stations, Fox News Media and Fox Sports. Over time the company has expanded its digital footprint through acquisitions and direct-to-consumer services, building a mix of linear and streaming distribution.
FOX's core activities include the creation, aggregation and distribution of television programming and live sports, the operation of national cable news and business networks, and the ownership and operation of local broadcast stations.
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