Lionsgate (LGF.A) reported adjusted earnings of 21 cents per share for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2023, surpassing the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 1 cent per share. The company reported earnings of 6 cents in the year-ago quarter.
Revenues increased 17% year over year to $1.1 billion and beat the consensus mark by 11.37%.
Lions Gate Entertainment Corp. Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise
Lions Gate Entertainment Corp. price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | Lions Gate Entertainment Corp. Quote
Segment Details
Motion Picture (48.3% of revenues) revenues increased 85% year over year to $532.1 million. The segment generated a profit of $93.8 million, up 89% year over year.
Television Production (26.5% of revenues) revenues decreased 21.2% year over year to $291.5 million. Segmental profit was $28.8 million, down 12.9% year over year.
The Media Networks segment (35% of revenues) reported revenues of $389 million, up 2.3% year over year. Segmental profit increased 122% to $73.3 million.
Starz Networks’ revenues decreased 0.7% year over year to $347.1 million.
LIONSGATE+ revenues in the quarter rose 37.3% year over year to $41.9 million.
Total global subscribers, including STARZPLAY Arabia (a non-consolidated equity method investee), decreased sequentially to 30.3 million, primarily due to linear and OTT pressures domestically.
Excluding the international subscribers in the seven markets that LIONSGATE+ is exiting, total global subscribers were up 3.4% year over year but down sequentially to 29.7 million.
Operating Details
Lionsgate’s adjusted OIBDA increased 67% year over year to $138 million in the reported quarter.
Direct operating expenses, as a percentage of revenues, contracted 850 basis points (bps) to 53.6%.
Distribution and marketing expenses, as a percentage of revenues, contracted 280 bps to 21.6%.
Moreover, general & administrative expenses, as a percentage of revenues, expanded 450 bps year over year to 17.6%.
The company reported an operating loss of $49.6 million in the reported quarter, up 1.5% from the year-ago quarter.
Balance Sheet & Cash Flow
As of Mar 31, 2023, Lionsgate had cash and cash equivalents of $272.1 million compared with $425.4 million as of Dec 31, 2022.
Net cash flow provided by operating activities was $13.6 million at the end of the fiscal fourth quarter compared with $11.4 million of cash flow used at the end of the previous quarter.
Adjusted free cash flow was negative $36.7 million against a free cash flow of $30 million in the previous quarter.
Zacks Rank & Stocks to Consider
Lionsgate currently carries a Zacks Rank #5 (Strong Sell).
Some better-ranked stocks in the Consumer Discretionary sector are Reservoir Media RSVR and H World Group Ltd HTHT, each carrying a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) at present. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
Reservoir Media and H World Group Ltd are scheduled to report quarterly results on May 31 and May 29, respectively.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for RSVR’s first-quarter 2023 earnings is pegged at 6 cents per share, which has remained unchanged over the past 30 days.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for HTHT’s first-quarter 2023 earnings is pegged at 12 cents per share, up by 2 cents over the past 30 days.
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H World Group Ltd (HTHT) : Free Stock Analysis Report
Lions Gate Entertainment Corp. (LGF.A) : Free Stock Analysis Report
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