Yahoo Finance Lionsgate (LGF.A) Q4 Earnings Top Estimates, Revenues Rise Y/Y
Lionsgate (LGF.A) reported adjusted earnings of 27 cents per share for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2024, which beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 125% and increased 28.6% from the year-ago quarter.
Revenues increased 2.9% year over year to $1.11 billion and beat the consensus mark by 2.23%.
Lions Gate Entertainment Corp. Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise
Lions Gate Entertainment Corp. price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | Lions Gate Entertainment Corp. Quote
Segment Details
Studio business (78.7% of total revenues) revenues increased 6.8% year over year to $879.9 million.
Within the segment, Motion Picture (46.7% of Studio revenues) revenues decreased 22.8% year over year to $410.6 million. The segment generated a profit of $82.2 million, down 12.4% year over year. Revenue and segment profit compared unfavourably with the year-ago quarter in which John Wick: Chapter Four was released theatrically.
Television Production (53.3% of Studio revenues) revenues increased 61% year over year to $469.3 million. Segmental profit was $52.6 million, up 82.6% year over year. Revenue and segment profit increases were driven by strength in library sales and an increase in post-strike content deliveries.
The Media Networks segment (32.3% of total revenues) reported revenues of $361.5 million, which decreased 7.1% year over year. Domestic streaming revenue growth was offset by declines in domestic linear and LIONSGATE+ revenues. Segmental profit decreased 28.4% to $52.5 million, driven primarily by higher domestic content amortization expense.
Within the segment, Starz Networks’ revenues decreased 0.5% year over year to $345.4 million. LIONSGATE+ revenues in the quarter declined 61.6% year over year to $16.1 million.
Total global subscribers, including STARZPLAY Arabia (a non-consolidated equity method investee), decreased sequentially by 0.38 million to 27.54 million. Domestic OTT subscribers were flat sequentially and overall North American net subscribers decreased by 480K.
Total OTT subscribers increased 4.7% year over year to 19.1 million.
Operating Details
Lionsgate’s adjusted OIBDA increased 1.7% year over year to $140.3 million in the reported quarter.
Direct operating expenses, as a percentage of revenues, expanded 500 basis points (bps) to 57.3%.
Distribution and marketing expenses, as a percentage of revenues, contracted 150 bps to 20.2%.
Moreover, general & administrative expenses, as a percentage of revenues, contracted 670 bps year over year to 11%.
The company incurred an operating loss of $60.9 million in the reported quarter, wider than an operating loss of $49.6 million reported in the year-ago period.
Balance Sheet & Cash Flow
As of Mar 31, 2024, Lionsgate had cash and cash equivalents of $314 million compared with $283 million as of Dec 31, 2023.
Net cash flow used in operating activities was $2.7 million at the end of the fiscal fourth quarter compared with $71.1 million of cash flow provided at the end of the previous quarter.
Adjusted negative free cash flow was $2.7 million compared with a free cash flow of $63.9 million in the previous quarter.
Guidance
For fiscal 2025, Lionsgate still expects adjusted EBITDA of $430 million and over $200 million for Lionsgate Studios and STARZ, respectively.
Zacks Rank & Other Stocks to Consider
Lionsgate currently carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).
Some other top-ranked stocks in the broader Consumer Discretionary sector are Nexstar Media Group NXST, Netflix NFLX and JAKKS Pacific JAKK, 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 Nexstar Media Group have gained 11% in the year-to-date period. The long-term earnings growth rate for NXST is 10%.
Shares of Netflix have climbed 26% in the year-to-date period. The long-term earnings growth rate for NFLX is 22.58%.
Shares of JAKKS Pacific have plunged 46.5% in the year-to-date period. The long-term earnings growth rate for JAKK is 42.61%.
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