AMC Networks Beats Q3 Earnings Estimates as International Growth Takes Off
Company completes purchase of RLJ Entertainment
Tony Maglio | November 1, 2018 @ 4:22 AM
Last Updated: November 1, 2018 @ 6:15 AM
AMC Networks beat the Street in the third quarter of 2018, reporting adjusted earnings per share (EPS) of $2.15 on $697 million in revenue. Compare those with Wall Street’s forecasts: $1.80 in EPS on $694.29 million in revenue, per a consensus compiled by Yahoo Finance.
Overall, the publicly traded corporation’s revenues over the 90 days that ended on Sept. 30, 2018 rose 7.5 percent. We can break that down as growth of 3.5 percent at the national networks and a big 34.6 percent increase internationally. While that’s a big disparity on a percentage basis, AMC’s national networks group (AMC, WE tv, BBC America, IFC and SundanceTV; and AMC Studios, the Company’s television production business) is still almost 4x as large as the global arm.
Over the three months measured for these results, AMC’s national networks saw a 5 percent increase in distribution revenue, which was mostly thanks to increased subscription sales and greater content licensing returns.
It’s worth pointing out here that most of Season 4 of “Better Call Saul” aired during the summer quarter. “The Walking Dead” Season 9 waited for Q4 to premiere. The zombie drama’s spinoff “Fear the Walking Dead” ran in the third quarter.
AMC’s international and “other” segment principally consists of AMC Networks International, the company’s international programming business; IFC Films, its independent film distribution business; Levity Entertainment Group, AMC’s production services and comedy venues business; and the company’s owned subscription streaming services, Sundance Now and Shudder.
Shareholders can thank Levity for much of Q3’s revenue growth.
On Thursday, AMC also announced it has completed its acquisition of RLJ Entertainment, the home to Acorn TV and UMC (Urban Movie Channel).
“Today we announced our acquisition of RLJ Entertainment, the company behind the growing streaming services Acorn TV and UMC, which now reach nearly one million subscribers. This acquisition represents a major step forward for AMC Networks as we further diversify our business through direct-to-consumer offerings that we own and control, and through our AMC Studios operation and our international channels business,” President and CEO Josh Sapan said in comments accompanying the financials. “In an evolving media and entertainment marketplace, AMC Networks continues to be very well positioned based on our size, our pricing and our strong content, which includes three of the top five dramas on ad-supported cable, and we remain the most widely available independent programmer among virtual MVPDs. In the third quarter, we delivered solid financial performance and we are on track to meet our 2018 full-year financial targets of total company revenue and adjusted operating income growth.”
Shares of AMCX stock closed Wednesday afternoon at $58.58, up 84 cents. The U.S. stock markets reopen at 9:30 a.m. ET.
Sapan and other AMC executives will host a conference call at 8:30 a.m. ET to discuss the quarter in greater detail. One key player will be missing, however.
Last month, “New Fox” said that AMC Networks president and general manager Charlie Collier would be leaving the company to become entertainment CEO of (what will be left of) Fox following the Disney deal. Collier presided over AMC’s reinvention into a scripted drama powerhouse on the strength of Emmy darlings like “Mad Men” and “Breaking Bad” and the striking ratings of “The Walking Dead.”
AMC Networks will continue to be led by Sapan and COO Ed Carroll. David Madden also joined last year as president of programming for AMC, SundanceTV and AMC Studios.
AMC is looking for a permanent replacement for Collier.
"Better Call Saul" inhabits the same sad Albuquerque underground as "Breaking Bad," so it's natural that characters in the AMC shows would overlap. Ready to see how? (Spoiler warning: This gallery contains lots of details about both shows.)
Jimmy McGill/Saul Goodman (Bob Odenkirk) He's the main character in the new series, so of course we need to include Slippin' Jimmy. Goodman appeared in 43 of 62 "Breaking Bad" episodes as Walt and Jesse's criminal lawyer, with an emphasis on "criminal." Thus far through "Better Call Saul," he's still just James M. McGill, Esq., but we're getting to that whole alter-ego thing, trust us.
In flash-forwards, we see that Jimmy/Saul lives long enough to become a paranoid, balding Cinnabon worker. Free icing? Could be worse.
Don Hector Salamanca (Mark Margolis) He walks! Hector -- the uncle of Tuco Salamanca -- had a wheelchair in "Breaking Bad." But the old man who was constantly ringing his bell to communicate was a real crimelord in his younger, more virile days, which "Better Call Saul" shows.
In "Breaking Bad," Hector takes out Gustavo Fring (pictured) with a crazy suicide bomb, avenging the deaths of his OTHER nephews. We'll get to those guys soon.
Ken (Kyle Bornheimer) Here's one of those deep pulls that we alluded to earlier. In "Breaking Bad," obnoxious Ken inadvertently helped Walter White break bad, and his mode of transportation suffered the consequences.
First, Ken stole Walt's parking space at a bank, while bragging on his bluetooth. Later, the loudmouth continued his boastful, irritating behavior. So Walt blew up his car, as chemists do.
In Season 2 of "Saul," Jimmy and Kim trick Ken into buying them a ton of expensive tequila shots at a swanky bar. The stock broker with "KEN WINS" on his BMW license plates tends to lose a lot in this universe.
Gustavo Fring (Giancarlo Esposito) After being teased at the end of Season 2, The Chicken Man and “Breaking Bad’s” biggest adversary shows up in the second episode of season 3. After a humorous scene where he’s cleaning up right next Jimmy eating at Los Pollos Hermanos (Saul and Gus never actually met each other in “Breaking Bad”), we see Fring is not yet the drug kingpin he is in “Breaking Bad.” But throughout the third season, we see how Mike will eventually become Gus’ fixer and get a lot more on the rivalry between Fring and the Salamancas (as fans of both shows know, it doesn’t end well for either).
We also see Fring lay his eyes for the first time on the industrial laundromat that will be known to “Breaking Bad” fans as the Super Lab where Walt and Jesse cook for him.
Tuco Salamanca (Raymond Cruz) Tuco's surprise appearance in Season 1 of "Better Call Saul" set the tone for even more exciting, unspoiled villainous returns. And then legs got broken, badly, because Tuco is a complete madmen.
Currently, Tuco is doing prison time, thanks to Mike. But he'll be out soon enough ...
In "Breaking Bad," the ruthless Tuco had worked his way all the way up to drug kingpin level. He, Walt and Jesse had some rough and tumble meetings before Tuco himself met his demise with a Hank Shrader bullet through the brain.
Mike Ehrmantraut (Jonathan Banks) OK, OK, we know -- another obvious one. But you can't make this an all-encompassing list sans Mike.
Mike and Jimmy/Saul work together in both series, though their relationship remains rocky at best. Early on in "Better Call Saul," the two meet at a local courthouse, where Jimmy is a public defender and Mike works the parking lot.
Leonel Salamanca (Daniel Moncada) One of the killer "cousins," who are really twin brothers. (They're cousins of Tuco's, and nephews of Hector's.)
The boys are dangerous, bloody, all-business hitman for the Juarez drug cartel. They're sharp dressers and have ever sharper axes. Both brothers get snuffed out as a result of a classic Hank firefight during "Breaking Bad," though this one lives long enough for one last-gasp badass hospital moment.
Domingo "Krazy-8" Molina (Max Arciniega) This was a really cool cameo. A more grown-up Krazy-8 was actually the first person Walter killed in "Breaking Bad," though he hemmed and hawed over it for a while, almost freeing his violent prisoner.
In "Saul," Molina comes across quite convincingly as a younger, more innocent version of himself, still new to the drug game and working at his dad's store. In a half-decade or so, he'll be choked to death with a bicycle lock in Jesse's aunt's basement.
Lawson (Jim Beaver) Everyone's favorite weapons dealer sells Walt the gun he uses to mow down a whole lotta neo-Nazis. He also turned up on "Better Call Saul" to offer several rifles to Mike... though, to Lawson's surprise, Mike took a pass.
Lydia Rodarte-Quayle (Laura Fraser) We all know how she takes her tea by now, which would ultimately be Lydia's demise.
During the "Breaking Bad" days, Lydia tried to get Mike to kill a laundry list of Gus Fring's associates. When he refuses, she tries to have Mike killed. Bad move.
Lydia and Mike first meet in "Better Call Saul," when Gus sets him up with a paycheck at her Madrigal Electromotive. They don't get off to a great start.
Huell Babineaux (Lavell Crawford) A very svelte-looking Huell (Crawford lost 130 pounds since the end of “Breaking Bad”) pops up in the fifth episode of season 3, “Chicanery,” inadvertently bumping into Chuck during a recess during Jimmy’s bar hearing. In a gut-punching reveal, we find out that Jimmy hired Huell to plant a fully-charged battery on Chuck, which reveals his illness to be in his head and helps Jimmy avoid getting barred forever for practicing law.
Hey wait a minute, didn’t we see Huell do that move before…?
Don Eladio Vuente (Steven Bauer) "The Winking Greek" was the boss of the Juarez Cartel -- that is, until he took a shot of Gus Fring's Zafiro Añejo tequila during the "Breaking Bad" days.
Back during the "Better Call Saul" timeline, Eladio was a total jerk to Hector, who years later was used as a prop to take out Fring.
Francesca Liddy (Tina Parker) Before she was Saul Goodman’s personal secretary, Francesca served as the receptionist for Wexler McGill. She unfortunately gets laid off when Jimmy and Kim decide to sublet the office during Jimmy’s enforced year-long sabbatical from legal work. Jimmy promises to hire her back when he can practice law again, and we all know how that turns out.
Gale Boetticher (David Costabile) In the third episode of Season 4, Gus pays a visit to Gale at his chemistry lab on the University of New Mexico campus (with the scene evoking memories of another chemistry teacher), which ends with Gale urging for Gus to allow him to produce higher-grade meth in his lab. Gus declines, saying Gale is meant for “better things.”
We’ll find out in “Breaking Bad” that those “better things” aren’t really all that better.
Honestly? We're most worried about people who turn up on "Better Call Saul" but not "Breaking Bad." Does that mean they went straight and avoided grim "Breaking Bad" fates? Or that they didn't survive "Better Call Saul"? Kim Wexler, let us know you're okay.
A few “Better Call Saul” faces are familiar, but others are very deep pulls
"Better Call Saul" inhabits the same sad Albuquerque underground as "Breaking Bad," so it's natural that characters in the AMC shows would overlap. Ready to see how? (Spoiler warning: This gallery contains lots of details about both shows.)
AMC
