Fox Corporation FOXA is set to report fourth-quarter fiscal 2020 results on Aug 4.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for earnings has remained steady at 61 cents per share over the past 30 days, implying a 1.6% decline from the figure reported in the year-ago quarter.
Moreover, the consensus mark for revenues is currently pegged at $2.41 billion, suggesting 4.16% decline from the figure reported in the year-ago quarter.
Notably, Fox has a stellar surprise history. It beat estimates in each of the trailing four quarters, delivering an average surprise of 100.7%.
Fox Corporation Price and EPS Surprise
Fox Corporation price-eps-surprise | Fox Corporation Quote
Let’s see how things have shaped up for the upcoming announcement.
Factors to Consider
Fox’s fourth-quarter fiscal 2020 results are expected to reflect the negative impact of the coronavirus. Lower ad demand and spending is anticipated to have hurt advertising revenues, which accounts for over 50% of the company’s top line.
Moreover, cancellation of major sporting events globally is expected to have dented advertising revenues, partially offset by increased political-ad spending in the to-be-reported quarter.
Further, Fox’s investments in expanding its network are expected to have driven ratings. Additionally, portfolio strength across entertainment and news content is expected to have aided viewership.
In fact, the second quarter was solid for FOX News Digital. Average monthly multiplatform unique visitors were 22.5 million, total multiplatform views were 5.8 billion and total multiplatform minutes were 13.4 billion, per Comscore data, cited by Fox.
Moreover, the network finished the quarter with its strongest June performance and saw double-digit increases on a year-over-year basis including multiplatform views (up 16%), 26 million multiplatform unique visitors and multiplatform minutes (up 20%). The network’s comprehensive coverage of coronavirus propelled traffic and engagement to all-time highs.
Key Q4 Developments
On Jun 8, Fox announced expansion of existing broadcast partnership with SiriusXM SIRI. As part of the new agreement, all FOX News Podcasts’ original programming is now available to Pandora’s more than 60 million monthly users across all tiers of the service. Additionally, the platform’s daily news digest, The FOX News Rundown, now airs weekday mornings on SiriusXM’s Patriot Channel 125.
On Apr 20, Fox announced that it has completed its acquisition of Tubi, Inc. Tubi brings to FOX an expanded consumer offering and directly connected user base that spends over 160 million hours per month watching content on the service.
On Apr 1, Fox announced long-term renewal of a distribution agreement with Comcast Corporation CMCSA for FOX’s full portfolio of channels, including retransmission consent for the FOX Television Stations to Xfinity customers.
What Our Model Says
According to the Zacks model, the combination of a positive Earnings ESP and Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), 2 (Buy) or 3 (Hold) increases the odds of an earnings beat. But that’s not the case here.
Fox Corporation has an Earnings ESP of +9.47% and a Zacks Rank #5 (Strong Sell). You can uncover the best stocks to buy or sell before they’re reported with our Earnings ESP Filter.
Stock to Consider
Here is a company you may want to consider, as our model shows that it has the right combination of elements to post an earnings beat in its upcoming releases:
NXP Semiconductors N.V. NXPI has an Earnings ESP of +3.26% and holds a Zacks Rank of 2. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.
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