AMC Networks Beats Q4 Forecasts on 13 Percent US Ad Sales Growth

It never hurts to have “The Walking Dead”

AMC Networks revealed its fourth-quarter and full-year 2015 financials Thursday morning, beating media analysts at their own prediction game.

Wall Street had forecast earnings per share of $1.18 on $675.02 million in revenue, per Yahoo Finance. Zacks thought the earnings would be 3 cents higher per share.

As it turns out, AMC sales clocked in at $679 million. Company net income was $90 million; its distribution came out to $1.23 per share.

U.S. ad sales growth of 13.4 percent versus the comparable three-month period last year led the way for the top line achievement. In other words, it’s good to have “The Walking Dead” — and that whole spinoff thing was a smart idea.

In his prepared remarks, President and Chief Executive Officer Josh Sapan focused on 2015 as a whole, calling it “a successful year for our company.”

“Our strategy of creating compelling original, high-quality programming continues to deliver strong financial results, including double digit increases in revenue and adjusted operating cash flow,” Sapan’s statement continued. “We premiered three new AMC original series, ‘Fear the Walking Dead,’ ‘Better Call Saul’ and ‘Into the Badlands,’ all of which broke ratings records. We received widespread critical praise and industry honors for our television and film content. We continued to build and expand our international business into key markets across Europe and Latin America.”

Senior management will hold a conference call at 11 a.m. ET to offer further insight on the financial results.

AMCX closed Wednesday’s trading day at $70.83 per share, up $2.32 — or 3.39 percent.

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