Fubo shed 500,000 subscribers for a total of 5.7 million in its second quarter as NBCUniversal programming remains dark on its platform and its integration with Hulu + Live TV and Disney nears completion of its first phase.
The sports streamer is on track to migrate its adtech into Disney’s server and sell inventory alongside Disney+, Hulu and ESPN later this month, which will provide a “meaningful uplift in CPMs and fill rates.” The second phase will see Fubo Sports become available alongside ESPN Unlimited and Disney’s bundle offerings in the first half of 2027, which is aimed at driving subscriber growth more efficiently with “meaningfully lower customer acquisition costs.”
Executives said that Fubo Sports, which offers major networks such as ESPN, ABC, CBS and Fox, among others, has experienced “strong market traction,” resonates with “value oriented consumers” and complements its broader content offering. It also launched a Spanish-language bundle with Hulu + Live TV in January, which helped delivered record high subscribers on Fubo’s Latino product during the quarter.
The third phase will focus on driving efficiencies with content costs as its distribution agreements come up for renewal. The company previously forecast $120 million+ in synergies following the closing of the Hulu + Live TV merger, which includes around $100 million from advertising-related synergies.
NBCUniversal’s networks have notably been dark on Fubo since November, with the former ceasing talks with the latter until the expiration of its current agreement with Hulu + Live TV.
Executives said the subscriber impact of the blackout has been “modest” and better than internal expectations, which they attributed to the resilience of its sports-focused value proposition and its decisions to lower prices and supplement Fubo with Peacock.
“Given that most commercial terms have been largely aligned prior to the Versant spinoff, this position is very difficult to reconcile,” Fubo CEO David Gandler told analysts on Wednesday. “While we remain open to constructive engagement, we will review the role of the NBCU and Versant portfolios as we continue to evaluate content alignment for our 6 million+ subscriber base.”
Despite losing subscribers, Fubo narrowed its quarterly loss to $6.2 million, from $40.9 million a year ago and grew revenue 1% to a record $1.6 billion.
But the company’s stock price fell over 10% after the company announced a reverse stock split, which would make its stock more accessible to a broader base of investors but reduce the number of total outstanding shares. The reverse split will be completed by the end of the second quarter.
“We’ve been very transparent from the onset. People, of course, get nervous around hearing reverse splits. But the reality is it was important for us to align with our operational scale,” Gandler said. “We wanted to reduce volatility and also, attract institutional investment. These are natural things that have to take place.”
Looking ahead, Gandler said that the company’s North Star for 2026 would be “simple growth” as it focuses on expanding its subscriber base through sports, distribution partnerships and improved monetization. He touted a “huge opportunity” around mobile with plans to revamp that experience. He also said the company would look at ways that it can engage with over 10 million users taking advantage of Disney’s sports betting capabilities and would look to make improvements around personalization.
Fubo reaffirmed its guidance of $80 million to $100 million in adjusted EBITDA and said it would have at least 200 million in cash for fiscal 2026. Additionally, it projected positive free cash flow in fiscal 2027 and 2028 and at least $300 million in adjusted EBITDA for fiscal 2028.
