Lionsgate Beats Wall Street Earnings Expectations on Strength of Starz Growth
Starz gained 300,000 subscribers in the first quarter
Trey Williams | August 9, 2018 @ 1:16 PM
Last Updated: August 9, 2018 @ 2:17 PM
Lionsgate Entertainment surpassed Wall Street analysts’ expectations for the company’s 2019 fiscal first quarter financial results on Thursday, pointing to the success of Starz’s TV and streaming service platforms as a major reason.
The studio reported adjusted earnings of 18 cents per share, which was much better than analysts’ expectations for a loss of 7 cents per share, according to estimates gathered by Yahoo Finance. The company’s earnings were an improvement compared with the 8 cents per share earnings Lionsgate reported during the same quarter a year ago.
Lionsgate’s revenue for the quarter was $932.7 million, above the $885.1 million Wall Street analysts were anticipating. The company’s first-quarter revenue suffered a slight decline compared with the $1.01 billion reported last year.
Lionsgate shares were up nearly 2.5 percent in after-hours trading following the company’s earnings report.
“We’re pleased to report a strong quarter with continued robust free cash flow and solid contributions from all of our businesses,” Lionsgate CEO Jon Feltheimer said in a statement. “Our global content machine is operating at full throttle, and we continue to invest in a programming and international rollout strategy at Starz that is working. Our initiatives in the quarter continued to strengthen Lionsgate’s stature as a unique and essential part of the media ecosystem.”
Lionsgate said revenue at its media networks increased 3 percent to $354.9 million, thanks mainly to the growth in streaming revenue. The company said Starz saw an increase of 300,000 domestic subscribers across its TV and OTT platforms during the quarter.
Revenue for the film division dropped 23 percent in the quarter to $365.3 million. Lionsgate said there tough comparisons to the success of last year’s home entertainment release of “John Wick: Chapter 2” and the international revenue from “La La Land.” Profits for the film studio declined 41 percent to, due to higher theatrical marketing expenses.
The TV production studio saw revenue grow 7 percent to $279.4 million in the quarter as gains in domestic license fees and international revenue offset the tough comparison to a prior year quarter that included a digital media licensing agreement for the Starz original series “Power.”
Summer's 5 Biggest Box Office Showdowns, Including 'Deadpool 2' vs. 'Solo' (Photos)
This summer, there are very few "direct" box office showdowns. Most weekends will be defined by a single, highly anticipated film entering theaters. But those films will be competition for other big blockbusters coming out the week before and could impact their long-term domestic total. With that in mind, here are the matchups to look out for.
May 25: "Solo: A Star Wars Story" opening vs. "Deadpool 2" second weekend -- The sequel to the second highest grossing R-rated film of all time is expected to match its predecessor's $132 million opening. But while "Deadpool" had February 2016 mostly to itself, it will have to go head-to-head in its second week against Han Solo's origin story, which could split the 18-35 demographic on Memorial Day Weekend.
June 8: "Ocean's 8" vs. "Hereditary" -- After "Wonder Woman" gave Warner Bros. a big summer last year, the studio is sending in this all-female "Ocean's Eleven" spinoff as a refreshing alternative for female audiences to the big, male-dominated smash-ups. Another film that will try to compete for that same demographic is A24's "Hereditary," which scared the bejeezus out of audiences at Sundance.
June 22: "Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom" vs. "Incredibles 2" third weekend -- Perhaps this won't be much of a contest, but once upon a time, the "Jurassic" series was an armrest-grabbing thriller that families could go to together. But the "Jurassic World" sequel is being sold as a more mature thriller, which means that there might not be as much overlap between its main audience and that of Pixar's long-awaited follow-up to "The Incredibles."
July 13: "Skyscraper" vs. "Ant-Man and The Wasp" second weekend -- "Ant-Man" wasn't as big a box office hit as its MCU brethren, but the jaw-dropping ending of "Avengers: Infinity War" draw more audiences in to see how Scott Lang could factor in to next year's "Avengers" finale. Against that behemoth, Dwayne Johnson will try to work his box office magic again with a thriller that will see the 8-time WWE Champion play his most vulnerable action hero yet.
August: "Mission: Impossible -- Fallout" vs. "Christopher Robin" vs. "The Spy Who Dumped Me" -- The summer season will see a steady slowdown in August, as there's no "Suicide Squad" or "Guardians of the Galaxy" on the slate this year. Instead, the sixth "Mission: Impossible" film will be the big blockbuster on offer, trying to match the $195 million domestic total of its predecessor. Meanwhile, Disney will send in Ewan McGregor to play a grown-up "Christopher Robin," while Kate McKinnon and Mila Kunis will provide some comedic alternatives.
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Several highly anticipated films are coming out one right after another this summer
This summer, there are very few "direct" box office showdowns. Most weekends will be defined by a single, highly anticipated film entering theaters. But those films will be competition for other big blockbusters coming out the week before and could impact their long-term domestic total. With that in mind, here are the matchups to look out for.
