AMC Networks Beats on Earnings But Misses Revenue Forecast as Domestic Ad Sales Drop
Stock buyback and new tax incentives help “Walking Dead” home top Wall Street’s per-share mark
Tony Maglio | March 1, 2018 @ 5:40 AM
Last Updated: March 1, 2018 @ 6:21 AM
AMC Networks unveiled its fourth-quarter and full-year 2017 financials on Thursday morning. There was some good news and some bad in there, and we’ve got the reasons for both.
Wall Street had forecast Q4 earnings of $1.49 per share on $730.78 million in revenue, according to a Yahoo Finance-compiled consensus. AMC Networks actually reported earnings of $1.68 per share on $727 million in revenue, besting media analysts’ expectations at the bottom-line but missing up top.
The per-share earnings rose year over year due to a large stock buyback program (leading to less dilution) and some Trump tax incentives, the latter of which kicked off in late Q4 2017. The revenue miss and decline from 2016’s year-ending quarter is in large part due to a near-10 percent ad sales drop at the national networks — AMC, WE tv, BBC America, IFC and SundanceTV — due to lower Nielsen performance. It has not been an awesome season for hit AMC series “The Walking Dead,” TV ratings-wise.
Still, full-year revenues reached a record $2.8 billion, and that makes AMC Networks President and CEO Josh Sapan happy. How happy? Read his remarks in full below.
“AMC Networks delivered record financial results in 2017, increasing net revenues and adjusted operating income for the seventh consecutive year since becoming a public company, and generating significant free cash flow that we are using to invest in key strategic initiatives and our networks.” company President and CEO Josh Sapan said in a statement accompanying the SEC filing.
“Our recent distribution deals with the streaming services fuboTV and Philo make AMC Networks available on more virtual MVPDS than any other independent programmer, proving the value of our discrete brands and our desirable, high-quality content,” he continued. “Our core networks continue to perform well, with AMC delivering 4 of the top 10 dramas on cable in 2017, with ‘The Walking Dead,’ ‘Fear the Walking Dead,’ ‘Better Call Saul’ and ‘Into the Badlands.'”
“AMC Premiere continues to gain traction, with YouTube TV recently joining Comcast Xfinity in making our ad-free AMC streaming option available to its subscribers,” Sapan said. “Our owned streaming services Sundance Now and Shudder are seeing healthy subscriber growth and their momentum, coupled with the growth of the other streaming services we have invested in, including Acorn TV, Urban Movie Channel, and the BBC and ITV’s Britbox, highlights consumer demand for subscription streaming services with specialized content.”
“As we continue to evolve and adapt in a world of changing viewer consumption habits, we believe AMC Networks occupies a position of unique strength and are confident that our size, our focus, and our portfolio of assets will enable us to continue to deliver strong financial results to our shareholders,” he concluded.
AMCX stock closed at $52.57 on Tuesday, down 31 cents per share. The U.S. stock markets reopen at 9:30 a.m. ET.
Shares are currently trending down a hair in pre-market trading — so perhaps Sapan oversold his results. (It’s kind of his job to.)
Sapan and other AMC Networks executives will host a conference call at 10 a.m. ET to discuss the results in greater detail.
On Monday, AMC announced that it plans to acquire the entirety of Robert Johnson’s RLJ Entertainment, which owns Acorn TV. The deal valued RLJ at about $60 million.
'The Walking Dead': The Most Shocking and Disturbing Deaths So Far
SPOILERS AHEAD. "The Walking Dead" has never been shy about showing lots of gore and death, but some characters' demises hit harder than others. Look back on some of the most gut-wrenching kills from the hit AMC series.
When Andrea's sister Amy ( Emma Bell) died in season 1, it proved that no one was safe.
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The death of Jim (Andrew Rothenberg) in season 1 showed the characters how to treat a bitten person for the first time.
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Sophia (Madison Lintz) was beloved by all, but Rick did not hesitate when it came time to pull the trigger when she became a walker.
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Dale (Jeffrey DeMunn) was the moral compass of the group, but died in the midst of the discussion around executing their prisoner, Randall.
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Shane (Jon Bernthal) was ready to kill Rick, but Rick acted first, proving himself to be a fearless leader.
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T-Dog (IronE Singleton) gave his life to save Carol from walkers when the group tried to take the prison.
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Lori (Sarah Wayne Callies) died during childbirth, prompting Carl to shoot her in the head to prevent her reanimation.
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Merle (Michael Rooker) proved he was a good man by giving his life in an attempt to stop The Governor.
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Andrea (Laurie Holden) failed to see The Governor for what he was and paid the ultimate price.
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Hershel (Scott Wilson) wanted peace, but The Governor took his head to prove a point to Rick.
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Tyrese (Chad Coleman) let his guard down for a just a moment, but long enough to get bitten by a walker.
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Lizzie (Brighton Sharbino) killed her sister Mika (Kyla Kenedy) before Carol shot Lizzie in the back of the head.
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Beth (Emily Kinney) died protecting Noah from Dawn (Christine Woods), forcing Daryl to shoot Dawn in the head.
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Noah (Tyler James Williams) endured one of the most gruesome deaths in "Walking Dead" history thanks to Nicholas.
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Jessie (Alexandra Breckenridge), Ron (Austin Abrams) and Sam (Major Dodson) all died within seconds of each other. Sam got eaten when the horde invaded Alexandria. Jessie died as she tried to save him. Ron then attempted to kill Rick, but got stabbed by Michonne and was subsequently eaten.
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Abraham (Michael Cuditz) was the one we had to wait six months to see murdered by Negan. He, of course, got his head beaten in with Negan's barbwire-wrapped baseball bat, Lucille.
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But Abraham wasn't Negan's only victim that night. After Daryl punched Negan, Negan decided he had to make another example out of someone in the group -- and he chose Glenn.
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Spencer (Austin Nichols) thought he could use Negan to kill Rick in order to assume control of Alexandria. But Negan had other plans, gutting Spencer in full view of everyone in the community
Gene Page/AMC
Olivia (Ann Mahoney) suffered plenty of indignities at Negan's hands, and he eventually repaid her by having her shot
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Ole Dr. Carson made a critical error by saying mean things about Sherry to Dwight over and over again. So Dwight framed the good doctor for helping Daryl escape from the Saviors -- and Negan threw him into the furnace for it.
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When King Ezekiel's crew was short one cantaloupe in its tribute for Negan's Saviors, Benjamin was shot in the leg as punishment. Unfortunately, the shot hit an artery, and young Ben bled out.
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It turned out that Richard had tossed one of the cantaloupes because he wanted to start a war between the Kingdom and Saviors -- and he thought they would kill him for being short. They shot Ben instead, but Morgan strangled Richard the next day after Richard confessed.
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Sasha (Sonequa Martin-Green) used Eugene's suicide pills to kill herself while she was theatrically locked in a casket because of some ridiculous thing Negan was doing. When Negan opened the casket she popped out as a walker and saved Rick and the residents of Alexandria in a clutch moment.
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Morales (Juan Gabriel Pareja) returned in season 8 after having been gone since season 1, but that return was short-lived. About ten minutes in show time after Morales, his family dead and now a member of the Saviors, showed up he got shot my Daryl.
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Eric (Jordan Woods-Robinson) got shot during the Alexandrians' battle against the Saviors, and then bled out and turned into a walker after a tearful goodbye scene with his boyfriend Aaron (Ross Marquand).
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Shiva the tiger bit the dust while saving Ezekiel, Carol and Jerry from a bunch of walkers in Season 8. There were just too many and they swarmed and ate her.
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Carl died in the season 8 mid-season premiere after suffering a zombie bite in the first half of the season.
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Gregory got his long overdue death when he was executed by hanging for trying to murder Maggie in the season 9 premiere.
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Jesus was killed when he tried to decapitate a zombie only to discover that zombie was actually a living man disguised as one -- this was Alexandria and Hilltop's first real contact with the Whisperers.
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TheWrap looks back at those who have fallen victim to the zombie scourge–and other humans–over nine seasons
SPOILERS AHEAD. "The Walking Dead" has never been shy about showing lots of gore and death, but some characters' demises hit harder than others. Look back on some of the most gut-wrenching kills from the hit AMC series.