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Lions Gate (LGF.A) Q2 Earnings & Revenues Beat, Down Y/Y
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Shares of Lions Gate Entertainment (LGF.A - Free Report) gained 5% on Nov 9 following the announcement of second-quarter fiscal 2019 results. The company’s Starz division posted solid results with domestic subscribers increasing substantially on a sequential basis.
Adjusted earnings of 22 cents per share comfortably beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 10 cents per share but decreased 24.1% from the year-ago quarter. However, the figure increased 22.2% sequentially.
Revenues declined 4.2% year over year to $901 million but comfortably surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $890 million. However, the figure increased 3.8% sequentially.
Notably, the stock lost 40.4% against the industry’s rally of 20.5% on a year-to-date basis.
Segment Details
Motion Pictures (42.1% of revenues) reported revenues of $379 million, down 1.7% year over year. The segment logged profit of $12.9 million, up 45% from the year-ago quarter primarily attributable to success of earlier released titles including A Simple Favor.
Television Production (16.9% of revenues) revenues were down 28% year over year to $152.1 million. Segment profits were $9.4 million compared with $18 million in the prior-year quarter, which included licensing of major Starz original series including Power and Ash vs Evil Dead.
The Media Networks segment (41.9% of total revenues), formed after the acquisition of Starz, reported revenues of $377.3 million, up 4.9% year over year driven by strong over-the-top (OTT) subscriber growth. Moreover, segment profit was $122.7 million, up 19%.
Starz revenues (99% of media revenues) increased 4.2% year over year to $373.7 million. The growth was due to increase in 1.3 million domestic subscribers sequentially, taking the total domestic subscribers count to 25.1 million. The increase in domestic subscribers was due to gains in both OTT, which is more than 3 million, and traditional MVPD (multichannel video programming distributor) subscribers.
Further, management noted that its premium programming like Power, American Gods and Outlander, and retention rate also contributed to Starz revenue growth.
On Nov 8, Lions Gate announced that Starz will be launched in UK later this month via Liberty Global’s (LBTYA - Free Report) cable platform, Virgin Media. This will allow the company to showcase Starz’s content to Liberty Global’s 4 million video subscribers.
Moreover, the company also recently partnered with Hulu, in which Disney (DIS - Free Report) has a majority stake, to distribute Starz original programming content. Notably, Lions Gate first launched Starz in six European countries through Amazon’s (AMZN - Free Report) Prime. The company has renewed its partnership with Amazon to help it expand both in the United States and international markets.
Streaming services (1%) surged 227.3% year over year to $3.6 million.
Lions Gate Entertainment Corp. Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise
Adjusted OIBDA surged 18.6% from the year-ago quarter to $128.8 million. Adjusted OIBDA margin expanded 280 basis points (bps) to 14.3%.
Operating income increased 28.6% from the year-ago quarter to $39.1 million. Operating margin expanded 110 bps on a year-over-year basis to 4.3%.
Balance Sheet & Cash Flow
As of Sep 30, cash and cash equivalents were $372.3 million compared with $315.6 million of Jun 30. Total film obligations and production loans were $468.3 million compared with $491.9 million sequentially.
Net cash flow from operations was $156.5 million in the reported quarter compared with $113.3 million in first-quarter fiscal 2019.
Free cash flow was $99.5 million compared with $113.6 million in last reported quarter.
Guidance
Management expects three-year CAGR of adjusted OIBDA in the “mid-to-high single digits.” Leverage will likely be in the range of 3.5X to 4X.
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Lions Gate (LGF.A) Q2 Earnings & Revenues Beat, Down Y/Y
Shares of Lions Gate Entertainment (LGF.A - Free Report) gained 5% on Nov 9 following the announcement of second-quarter fiscal 2019 results. The company’s Starz division posted solid results with domestic subscribers increasing substantially on a sequential basis.
Adjusted earnings of 22 cents per share comfortably beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 10 cents per share but decreased 24.1% from the year-ago quarter. However, the figure increased 22.2% sequentially.
Revenues declined 4.2% year over year to $901 million but comfortably surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $890 million. However, the figure increased 3.8% sequentially.
Notably, the stock lost 40.4% against the industry’s rally of 20.5% on a year-to-date basis.
Segment Details
Motion Pictures (42.1% of revenues) reported revenues of $379 million, down 1.7% year over year. The segment logged profit of $12.9 million, up 45% from the year-ago quarter primarily attributable to success of earlier released titles including A Simple Favor.
Television Production (16.9% of revenues) revenues were down 28% year over year to $152.1 million. Segment profits were $9.4 million compared with $18 million in the prior-year quarter, which included licensing of major Starz original series including Power and Ash vs Evil Dead.
The Media Networks segment (41.9% of total revenues), formed after the acquisition of Starz, reported revenues of $377.3 million, up 4.9% year over year driven by strong over-the-top (OTT) subscriber growth. Moreover, segment profit was $122.7 million, up 19%.
Starz revenues (99% of media revenues) increased 4.2% year over year to $373.7 million. The growth was due to increase in 1.3 million domestic subscribers sequentially, taking the total domestic subscribers count to 25.1 million. The increase in domestic subscribers was due to gains in both OTT, which is more than 3 million, and traditional MVPD (multichannel video programming distributor) subscribers.
Further, management noted that its premium programming like Power, American Gods and Outlander, and retention rate also contributed to Starz revenue growth.
On Nov 8, Lions Gate announced that Starz will be launched in UK later this month via Liberty Global’s (LBTYA - Free Report) cable platform, Virgin Media. This will allow the company to showcase Starz’s content to Liberty Global’s 4 million video subscribers.
Moreover, the company also recently partnered with Hulu, in which Disney (DIS - Free Report) has a majority stake, to distribute Starz original programming content. Notably, Lions Gate first launched Starz in six European countries through Amazon’s (AMZN - Free Report) Prime. The company has renewed its partnership with Amazon to help it expand both in the United States and international markets.
Streaming services (1%) surged 227.3% year over year to $3.6 million.
Lions Gate Entertainment Corp. Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise
Lions Gate Entertainment Corp. Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise | Lions Gate Entertainment Corp. Quote
Operating Details
Adjusted OIBDA surged 18.6% from the year-ago quarter to $128.8 million. Adjusted OIBDA margin expanded 280 basis points (bps) to 14.3%.
Operating income increased 28.6% from the year-ago quarter to $39.1 million. Operating margin expanded 110 bps on a year-over-year basis to 4.3%.
Balance Sheet & Cash Flow
As of Sep 30, cash and cash equivalents were $372.3 million compared with $315.6 million of Jun 30. Total film obligations and production loans were $468.3 million compared with $491.9 million sequentially.
Net cash flow from operations was $156.5 million in the reported quarter compared with $113.3 million in first-quarter fiscal 2019.
Free cash flow was $99.5 million compared with $113.6 million in last reported quarter.
Guidance
Management expects three-year CAGR of adjusted OIBDA in the “mid-to-high single digits.” Leverage will likely be in the range of 3.5X to 4X.
Currently, Lions Gate carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
More Stock News: This Is Bigger than the iPhone!
It could become the mother of all technological revolutions. Apple sold a mere 1 billion iPhones in 10 years but a new breakthrough is expected to generate more than 27 billion devices in just 3 years, creating a $1.7 trillion market.
Zacks has just released a Special Report that spotlights this fast-emerging phenomenon and 6 tickers for taking advantage of it. If you don't buy now, you may kick yourself in 2020.
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