NWSA Misses Q3 Earnings Estimates, Shares Up on Strong Top-Line Growth

Core Viewpoint - News Corporation (NWSA) reported mixed third-quarter fiscal 2025 earnings, with earnings per share of 17 cents, missing estimates but showing a year-over-year increase of 54.5% [1]. Financial Performance - Revenues reached $2.01 billion, a 1% increase year over year, but fell short of consensus estimates by 0.29% [1]. - Adjusted revenues, excluding foreign currency impacts, grew by 2% year over year [3]. - Total EBITDA rose 12% year over year to $290 million, driven by strong contributions from Digital Real Estate Services and Dow Jones segments [3]. Segment Performance Digital Real Estate Services - Revenues increased by 5% year over year to $406 million, with strong performance from REA Group and a second consecutive quarter of revenue growth for Move [4]. - Move revenues grew 2% year over year to $135 million, supported by strong growth in sellers, new homes, and rentals [5]. - REA Group revenues rose 6% year over year to $271 million, driven by higher Australian residential revenues [6]. Dow Jones - Revenues increased 6% year over year to $575 million, fueled by higher circulation and subscription revenues [9]. - Digital revenues accounted for 82% of total revenues, up from 81% in the previous year [9]. - Total average subscriptions to Dow Jones' consumer products grew 7% year over year to 6.1 million [13]. Book Publishing - Revenues in the Book Publishing segment reached $514 million, a 2% increase year over year, driven by higher book sales [15]. - Digital sales rose 3% year over year, with audiobook sales benefiting from a partnership with Spotify [16]. News Media - Revenues in the News Media segment fell 8% year over year to $514 million, primarily due to lower advertising revenues [17]. - Digital revenues represented 39% of the News Media segment's revenues, up from 37% in the prior year [20]. Strategic Developments - NWSA completed the sale of Foxtel Group to DAZN, receiving a minority equity stake of approximately 6% in DAZN [7]. Other Financial Aspects - As of March 31, 2025, NWSA had cash and cash equivalents of $2.09 billion and borrowings of $1.95 billion [22].