E.W. Scripps stock jumps 6% following record political ad revenue

CINCINNATI - E.W. Scripps Company (NASDAQ:SSP) shares jumped 6.5% after the media company reported record third-quarter revenue driven by strong political advertising, though earnings missed estimates.

E.W. Scripps posted Q3 adjusted earnings per share of $0.37, falling short of analyst expectations of $0.52. However, revenue surged 14% year-over-year to $646.3 million, surpassing the consensus estimate of $627.86 million.

The company's Local Media segment saw revenue climb 26% to $445.6 million, boosted by $125.2 million in political advertising revenue compared to just $9.1 million in the prior year quarter. Scripps now expects full-year 2024 political ad revenue to reach at least $340 million, far exceeding its previous guidance of $270-$290 million.

"Scripps' Local Media political advertising revenue came in nearly 30% higher than our last presidential-election year political revenue, which also was a record year," said Scripps President and CEO Adam Symson. "This 2024 level is a testament to the durability of local broadcast programming as the perfect vehicle for massive reach to deliver candidate and political action committee messaging."

The strong political ad performance helped offset weakness in core advertising, which declined 9.2% YoY to $129.3 million due to displacement from political ads. Meanwhile, the Scripps Networks segment saw revenue dip 6.4% to $201.7 million.

Scripps used its robust cash flow to pay down $115 million of debt in Q3, reducing its leverage ratio to 5.1x from 6.0x at the end of Q2. The company expects to pay down approximately $300 million in total debt this year.

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Source: Investing.com