- Revenue was $4.57 billion, a 22% year-over-year increase that surpassed the $4.29 billion estimated by analysts at Yahoo Finance
- Earnings per share came in at $2.20, which was more than the $2.02 estimated by analysts at Yahoo Finance
- Advertising revenue increased by 47%, driven by the World Cup, midterms political ads and Tubi
Fox Corp. reported a 22% year-over-year increase in revenue during its first quarter earnings for fiscal year 2027. The news was announced on Monday before the markets opened. Total quarterly revenue came in at $4.57 billion thanks to the FIFA World Cup, political advertisements during a midterm year and the performance of Tubi.
Last quarter, Fox again beat analysts’ revenue expectations, reporting $4.21 billion, which was up over 18% compared to last year.
“Fox has had an outstanding start to fiscal 2027 with first-quarter records for revenue and Adjusted EBITDA underpinned by robust growth in both advertising and distribution revenue,” Fox Corporation CEO Lachlan Murdoch wrote during the company’s earnings release. “These record results coupled with the strong momentum we are continuing to see across our business gives us confidence in delivering value for shareholders in a thoughtful and disciplined manner.”
Revenue related to Cable Network Programming increased 8% year-over-year, coming in at $1.8 billion. Distribution revenue increased by 10% owning to contractural price increased as well as an increase in the average number of subscribers. As for advertising revenue for the division, that increased by 8% due to higher sports advertising revenue. That boost from the World Cup helped offset lower digital news advertising revenue — a decline that may prove to be an issue for Fox in the coming quarters.
As for the Television segment, that reported a revenue of $2.71 billion, which was a 32% year-over-year increase. Advertising revenue for the segment increased by 60% due to the World Cup, higher political advertising revenue during a midterm year and the continued digital growth led by the Tubi. Distribution revenue also increased by 4%, a lift that was once again due to an increase in the average number of subscribers as well as higher average rates at Fox’s owned and operated TV stations.
The segment also saw an increase in expenses, which was driven by higher programming rights and production costs related to the broadcast of the World Cup. That increase was partially offset by lower NFL costs.
The company also gave an update on Fox One, Fox’s streaming offering that launched a little over a year ago. Murdoch noted that the offering has “consistently exceeded our expectations for users and engagement” during the company’s earnings call with shareholders. In the month of September, subscriber acquisitions for Fox One increased by 20% compared to the start of last year’s football season.
“We have seen a very healthy engagement balance by subscribers between news and sports consumption,” Murdoch said.
As for Tubi, revenue for the streamer grew 35% year over year, and total view time increased by 23%. Engagement on Tubi was driven by library viewership, viewership related to the World Cup, the streamer’s original content and its content from more than 600 creators. Tubi is expected to continue to see momentum on the advertising side as midterm ads continue to roll out. The NFL Thanksgiving Day game will also stream live on Tubi.
Fox also addressed the other free ad-supported streamer the company is eyeing: Roku. In mid October, Fox’s proposed $22 billion acquisition of Roku secured shareholder approval, meaning that deal is closer than ever to becoming a reality. Murdoch has previously said that the goal of this deal is to pair Fox’s “high-impact live sports and news content” with Roku’s “leading streaming distribution and technology platform.” If the deal is approved by regulators, it would cement Fox as a dominate player when it comes to free ad-supported streaming. The Fox-owned Tubi has 110 million monthly active users, and Roku has more than 100 million streaming households.
On Monday, Murdoch noted that the company’s conviction in the deal “has only grown.” However, Fox was clear it would not be answering questions related to the upcoming deal on the earnings call.
“From a process standpoint, we have made significant progress towards closing, including receiving all required Fox and Roku shareholder approvals and foreign regulatory approvals,” Murdoch said. “We are continuing to work cooperatively with the DOJ in order to obtain HSR clearance and expect to close the transaction as soon as we can.”
More to come …
