Fox Corporation (FOX) Q2 2023 Earnings Call Transcript

For the period ending December 31, 2022

February 8, 2023 8:30 a.m. ET

Prepared Remarks

Questions and Answers

Call Participants

Prepared Remarks:

Operator

Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for standing by. Welcome to the Fox Corporation Second Quarter Fiscal Year 2023 Earnings Conference Call. At this time, all participants are in a listen-only mode. Later, we will conduct a question-and-answer session. I would like to emphasize that the functionality for the question-and-answer queue will be given at that time. [Operator Instructions]. As a reminder, this conference is being recorded.

I'll now turn the conference over to Chief Investor Relations Officer, Ms. Gabrielle Brown. Please go ahead, Ms. Brown.

Gabrielle Brown

Thank you, operator. Good morning and welcome to our fiscal 2023 second quarter earnings call. Joining me on the call today are Lachlan Murdoch, Executive Chair and Chief Executive Officer; John Nallen, Chief Operating Officer; and Steve Tomsic, our Chief Financial Officer. First, Lachlan and Steve will give some prepared remarks on the most recent quarter and then we'll take questions from the investment community.

Please note that this call may include forward-looking statements regarding Fox Corporation's financial performance and operating results. These statements are based on management's current expectations and actual results could differ from what is stated as a result of certain factors identified on today's call and in the company's SEC filings.

Additionally, this call will include certain non-GAAP financial measures, including adjusted EBITDA or EBITDA as we refer to it on this call. Reconciliations of non-GAAP financial measures are included in our earnings release and on our SEC filings, which are available in the Investor Relations section of our Web site.

And with that, I'm pleased to turn the call over to Lachlan.

Lachlan Murdoch

Thanks, Gabby, and thank you all for joining us this morning to discuss our second quarter results. Our fiscal second quarter continued to build upon the strength of the first quarter to deliver record first half ratings and revenue at Fox. Financially, we delivered a 4% increase in our top line, including a 4% advertising revenue growth. Our EBITDA grew a massive 71%, principally due to strong advertising results from sports and political as well as the impact of exiting Thursday Night Football.

Our television segment led this growth and had a truly stellar performance. The station's group posted another record political midterm cycle, with approximately $250 million booked during the first half of our fiscal year. This is higher than our previous midterm record and just shy of our fiscal '21 presidential year record. These are impressive numbers and reinforce the strength and breadth of our station group.