News Corp shares rise after Q3 earnings beat estimates
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More news: Shares in News Corp rose in afternoon trade after the media group posted a 13% increase in its third-quarter net income, with CEO Robert Thomson declaring the company is on track for “another year of record profitability”.
Shares climbed 3.84% to $43.68 at 2:42pm AEST.
Jarden analyst Tom Beadle maintains an “overweight” rating on the stock, setting the price target at $46.30. He describes the solid result as a demonstration of strong growth that exceeded Jarden’s consensus estimates.
UBS analyst Ailsa Lei holds a “buy” rating with a $56 price target, noting the results beat consensus estimates across all segments. She expects risk and energy to remain the main drivers of growth, with the business likely benefiting from recent geopolitical conflicts.
News Corp posts 13% rise in Q3 net income, Robert Thomson takes aim at ‘bad-boy bots’
The news: News Corp reported a 13% jump in net income to USD121 million ($168 million) for the third quarter, compared to USD107 million in the prior corresponding period, driven by growth across its real estate services, Dow Jones and book publishing segments.
The numbers: The media group reported Q3 revenue of USD2.19 billion, up 9% year on year. Total segment EBITDA was up 18% year on year to USD343 million.
The context: News Corp CEO Robert Thomson said the company is on track for “another year of record profitability” following “resounding results” in the third quarter.
He described the group as an “AI inputs company” and said its recent deal with Facebook-owner Meta complements its existing partnership with ChatGPT maker OpenAI.
News Corp is in discussions with other companies who “recognise the preciousness of provenance,” Thomson said, with potential deals expected to have a positive impact on revenue and profitability.
What they said: “The third quarter was compelling evidence of the transformation of our business, and demonstrated the robustness of our core growth engines, which we expect will propel us towards a strong fiscal finish,” Thomson said.
“We are also tracking a number of dodgy digital firms scraping illicitly, illegally our precious content and shamelessly reselling this purloined property,” he said.
“We have these baleful bad-boy bots in our sights and intend to pursue them vigorously. And we believe companies that willingly buy this stolen content from these nefarious fences are also culpable.”
The sources: ASX, UBS analyst note, Jarden analyst note
