Nexstar Media Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:NXST) Q2 2022 Results Conference Call August 4, 2022 10:00 AM ET
Company Participants
Joe Jaffoni - JCIR
Perry Sook - Founder, Chairman & CEO
Lee Ann Gliha - CFO
Tom Carter - President & COO
Conference Call Participants
Dan Kurnos - Benchmark
Steven Cahall - Wells Fargo
Aaron Watts - Deutsche Bank
Craig Huber - Huber Research Partners
Alan Gould - Loop Capital
Barton Crockett - Rosenblatt Securities
Jim Goss - Barrington Research
Courtney Bahlman - Barclays
John Kornreich - JK Media
Operator
Good day, and welcome to Nexstar Media Group's Second Quarter 2022 Results. Today's call is being recorded.
I would now like to turn the conference over to Joe Jaffoni, Investor Relations. Please go ahead, sir.
Joe Jaffoni
Thank you, Anne, and good morning, everyone. I'll read the safe harbor language, and then we'll get right into the call. All statements and comments made by management during this conference call, other than statements of historical fact, may be deemed forward-looking statements for purposes of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.
Nexstar cautions that these forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially from those reflected by the forward-looking statements made during today's call. For additional details on these risks and uncertainties, please see Nexstar's annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2021, as filed with the U.S.
Securities and Exchange Commission and Nexstar's subsequent public filings with the SEC. Nexstar undertakes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. Thank you for your patience.
With that, it's now my pleasure to turn the conference call over to your host, Nexstar Chairman and CEO, Perry Sook. Perry, please go ahead.
Perry Sook
Thank you, Joseph, and good morning, everyone. We appreciate you joining us today to discuss Nexstar's record second quarter financial results. With me on the call today are Tom Carter, our President and Chief Operating Officer as well as Lee Ann Gliha, our CFO. I'll start with a summary of recent highlights and developments, followed by Tom's operations review and Lee Ann's financial review. Nexstar delivered another outstanding quarter of financial results and shareholder returns.
Top and bottom line performance was driven by a strong year-over-year growth in political advertising and distribution and digital revenues. Net revenue, adjusted EBITDA and free cash flow came in well ahead of consensus, continuing our track record of exceeding expectations. These results validate what our company has proven so many times over the years. Regardless of the operating environment, our business model is resilient and built to outperform. In the first half and the second quarter of 2022, we returned $486 million and $284 million, respectively, to shareholders through share repurchases and dividends, marking all-time highs for both periods.