Fox Corp. (NASDAQ:FOX) (NASDAQ:FOXA) stock rose on Thursday after the media company posted upbeat fiscal fourth-quarter 2026 results as the FIFA World Cup lifted advertising sales and helped drive strong viewership during a busy news cycle.
During the conference call, CEO Lachlan Murdoch said the 2026 FIFA Men’s World Cup did more than boost advertising revenue, serving as a major customer acquisition engine for Fox One.
He said the tournament drove incremental subscriber growth and retention that “surpassed our expectations,” while generating minimal cannibalization of the company’s traditional pay-TV business, reinforcing Fox’s strategy of targeting cord-cutters and cord-nevers.
Strong Q4 Earnings Beat Expectations
Revenue rose 28% year-over-year to $4.21 billion, up from $3.29 billion in the same period last year, topping Wall Street’s consensus estimate of $3.64 billion.
Adjusted net income increased to $765 million, or $1.79 per share, surpassing analysts’ expectations of $1.42 per share and growing from $581 million, or $1.27 per share, a year earlier.
The company held exclusive U.S. English-language broadcast rights to the tournament and benefited from strong demand, including a record U.S. audience of nearly 63 million viewers for Spain’s win over Argentina in the final, Reuters reported.
Distribution And Streaming Growth Support Results
Distribution revenue rose 5.0% to $2.03 billion, primarily driven by 7.0% growth at the Cable Network Programming segment.
Advertising revenue climbed 78.0% to $1.92 billion, primarily due to the current year broadcast of the FIFA Men’s World Cup (“World Cup”), and continued digital growth led by the Tubi AVOD service.
Content and other revenue decreased 2.6% to $262 million, primarily due to the timing of sports sublicensing revenue.
Cash Position And Share Repurchases Remain Strong
Fox reported operating cash of $867 million for the quarter, and closed the period with $4.21 billion in cash and cash equivalents.
During the quarter, the company repurchased approximately $50 million of its Class A common stock and $50 million of its Class B common stock.
Fox One also recorded 2.8 million sign-ups in June, its strongest month since launch and more than double the sign-ups generated during the NFL playoffs in January.
Fox’s planned $22 billion cash-and-stock acquisition of Roku Inc. (NASDAQ:ROKU) is aimed at expanding its streaming presence on connected TVs and reducing reliance on traditional cable audiences.
FOX Price Action
FOX Price Action: Fox shares were up 5.88% at $55.27 at the time of publication on Thursday, according to Benzinga Pro data.
Photo via Shutterstock