AMC Networks Misses Q1 Revenue Estimates as U.S. Ad Sales Drop 7%

But the company smashed Wall Street’s earnings expectations

AMC Networks missed revenue expectations for the first quarter of 2021, when the company’s U.S. ad sales dropped 7%, according to its Q1 2021 earnings report released Friday.

However, AMC Networks smashed Wall Street’s earnings estimates.

Wall Street forecast earnings per share (EPS) of $1.87 on $722.32 million in revenue, according to a consensus compiled by Yahoo Finance. AMC Networks reported adjusted EPS of $2.98 on $692 million in revenue.

“AMC Networks had solid performance in the first quarter and we are on course to meet our 2021 financial and streaming targets, including reaching at least 9 million paid subscribers by year end,” president and chief executive officer Josh Sapan said in prepared remarks accompanying the financials.The transition of the company to be the worldwide leader in targeted streaming on the strength of our focused, strong content continues on track. The support of our distribution partners for our streaming efforts and our advanced advertising strides are providing us with both stability and momentum. We believe the high viewer engagement, efficient economic model, and pricing power of our streaming offerings provide us with important strategic advantages which, when coupled with our valuable linear channel offerings, will fuel our growth and continue to position us very well over the near and long term.”

AMC Networks stock closed Thursday at $45.55 share. The regular U.S. stock markets will reopen at 9:30 a.m. ET.

Sapan and other AMC Networks executives will host a conference call at 8:30 a.m. ET to discuss the quarter in greater detail.

More to come…