21st Century Fox (FOXA) is set to report its fourth quarter and fiscal year 2018 results on August 8. For the third quarter, Fox posted a 2% decrease in revenues while profits increased by 7%. Revenues in the Cable Network Programming segment increased year-over-year while the Television and Filmed Entertainment segments posted declines.
Analysts expect Fox to post earnings of $0.54 per share for the fourth quarter with revenues of around $7.7 billion. For the full year, revenues are expected to come in at about $30 billion with earnings of $1.92 per share.
Fox has been caught up in an acquisition tangle with Walt Disney (DIS), Comcast (CMCSA) and Sky (SKY) for a while now. This quarter is particularly interesting because the proposed acquisition of Fox’s assets by Disney received both regulatory and shareholder approvals. After engaging in a bidding war with Disney for Fox, Comcast recently bowed out.
The Disney-Fox deal is expected to change the landscape of the media and entertainment industry
Comcast is now pursuing Sky and is facing off with Fox to acquire the British pay-TV provider. Today, Fox submitted its offer document to acquire Sky for GBP14 a share. This offer is still behind Comcast’s offer of GBP14.75 a share.
The Disney-Fox deal was a much-publicized one, and it is expected to change the landscape of the media and entertainment industry. The market can look forward to several interesting changes and any updates regarding the Disney and Sky deals are definitely important ones to look out for.
Fox’s shares are up 32% so far this year. The company’s peer Disney will report its third-quarter earnings today after market close.