In her first earnings call with Wall Street, Fubo’s new CEO Alicia Bowen outlined four core priorities that the company would focus on to drive profitability. They include creating flexible pricing and packing, expanding its content offering, striking new distribution and marketing partnerships and investing in technology and AI to improve the user experience.
“The strongest media businesses require three things: compelling content, a product and experience that customers value, and an operating model capable of delivering scale,” Bowen told analysts. “I joined Fubo TV because this company has all three of these attributes, and I’m optimistic it will serve as a robust foundation for growth. While the media landscape broadly remains in a period of significant structural change, the enduring value of live programming, and especially sports, is increasingly clear.”
The strategy comes as Fubo charts a new heading after Disney closed its deal to acquire a 70% stake in the streaming service. Last month, Bowen stepped down as president of Disney+ to take on this new CEO role, succeeding co-founder David Gandler.
Bowen, who also served as chief technology officer of News Corp., said there is “still a lot of work to do” on her strategy and that updates would be provided during its November earnings call.
During its third quarter, Fubo grew its North American paid subscriber base 2% to 5.8 million and added 7,000 subscribers in its Rest of World segment for a total of 356,000.
Total revenue grew to $1.48 billion, compared to $1.07 billion a year ago, while its net loss shrunk to $25.7 million, from 38 million a year ago, driven primarily by the NBA Finals and FIFA World Cup.
“While we expect some attrition, the World Cup was ultimately a powerful vehicle for introducing new high-quality subscribers to our Fubo platform,” Bowen said.
The latest quarter’s results come as Fubo is just beginning to realize the full potential of its combination with Hulu + Live TV and inclusion in the Disney ecosystem.
The service completed the migration of its advertising inventory to Disney’s ad server in June, which resulted in double-digit increases in CPM and fill rates compared to last year. It also noted that Fubo’s inclusion in ESPN’s Where to Watch has boosted conversions from free trials to paid subscriptions at a higher rate than customers acquired from other channels. Additionally, Bowen said the planned live TV integrations in Disney+ and Hulu’s unified standalone app, which is expected launch by year-end, will be another positive step.
“I’m very confident that we’ll continue to strengthen those relationships as we work together on what the future opportunities for both Fubo and Hulu + Live TV are,” Bowen said.
When asked if the two platforms would eventually merger into one offering, Bowen noted that they have “very distinct and valuable subscriber bases” in sports and entertainment, respectively.
“I think having both in the market gives us the opportunity to really bring to market a range of products and services that meet different consumers where they are along that price-value curve, and that’s something that we’re going to continue to lean into,” she added. “We think that those opportunities give us the maximum reach and the chance for us to get to the most subscribers out there in the marketplace.”
Bowen also spoke about the growth opportunities from AI, noting that Fubo is using the technology for content discovery, voice search and personalization. The company has also used AI in its engineering and product teams to speed up the launch of new features and to increase the volume of creative for marketing and subscriber acquisition campaigns.
Looking ahead, Fubo raised its 2026 adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, or EBITDA, forecast to between $90 million and $100 million, compared to the previous range of $80 million to $100 million, and continues to expect to end the fiscal year with at least $200 million in cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash. It also continues to expect positive free cash flow in fiscal 2027 and 2028 and adjusted EBITDA of at least $300 million in fiscal 2028.
Additionally, Fubo Chief Operating Officer Alberto Parihuela will transition into a new senior advisor role towards the end of the year. He will remain as an advisor through all of 2027 to help refine and execute the company’s long-term strategy.
Shares of Fubo climbed 4.5% following the release of the company’s results.
