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News Fourth Quarter Earnings
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NWSA
News (Nasdaq:NWSA) announced its results for the fourth quarter on August 8, 2012. News Corp. is a global media company with operations in film, television, cable programming, satellite television, magazines, and book publishing.
Investors should care about a company's quarterly earnings because it shows the state of the business over the past 90 days and provides guidance for the following 90 days. SEE: How To Decode A Company's Earnings Reports
The Numbers: News' EPS fell in line with analyst expectations of 32 cents per share while revenue of $8.37 billion beat estimates of $8.24 billion. Revenue fell 6.6% from the same period last year. Slumping revenue in the last quarter ends News' streak of four consecutive quarters of revenue increases. News swung to a loss of $1.55 billion during the fourth quarter. The company's loss in the latest quarter comes after the company reported profits in the three prior quarters.
Management Quote: Commenting on the results, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Rupert Murdoch said: "We are proud of the full year financial growth achieved over the last twelve months, led by our Cable Network Programming and Filmed Entertainment segments. Not only did we execute on our operating plan and deliver on our financial targets, we returned over $5 billion to shareholders through an aggressive buyback program and dividends. In addition, significant progress has been made in opportunistically addressing the Company's non-consolidated assets, as demonstrated by the purchase of Fox Pan American Sports, the sale of NDS and the announced intention to purchase the remaining ownership stake of ESPN STAR Sports and Consolidated Media Holdings.
Looking Ahead: When earnings estimates stay consistent leading up to earnings season, this usually shows analysts accurately predicted earnings estimates and business is stable. Be cautious though as this may also be a warnings sign that earnings could come at a huge surprise to the upside or downside as analyst did not correctly predict earnings. Steady earnings estimates mean there is not enough change going on with the company to make analysts change their opinions. When earning estimates are steady, investors can look at the revenue trend for a more fundamental indicator. For the fiscal year, the average estimate has moved up from $1.37 a share to $1.41 over the last ninety days.
Investors should care about a company's quarterly earnings because it shows the state of the business over the past 90 days and provides guidance for the following 90 days. SEE: How To Decode A Company's Earnings Reports
The Numbers: News' EPS fell in line with analyst expectations of 32 cents per share while revenue of $8.37 billion beat estimates of $8.24 billion. Revenue fell 6.6% from the same period last year. Slumping revenue in the last quarter ends News' streak of four consecutive quarters of revenue increases. News swung to a loss of $1.55 billion during the fourth quarter. The company's loss in the latest quarter comes after the company reported profits in the three prior quarters.
Looking Ahead: When earnings estimates stay consistent leading up to earnings season, this usually shows analysts accurately predicted earnings estimates and business is stable. Be cautious though as this may also be a warnings sign that earnings could come at a huge surprise to the upside or downside as analyst did not correctly predict earnings. Steady earnings estimates mean there is not enough change going on with the company to make analysts change their opinions. When earning estimates are steady, investors can look at the revenue trend for a more fundamental indicator. For the fiscal year, the average estimate has moved up from $1.37 a share to $1.41 over the last ninety days.
by
Investopedia Staff
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