News Corp (ASX: NWS) shares continue to climb into the green after the media giant posted its FY24 results last week.
Today, the company filed its Appendix 4E, otherwise known in the US as a 10-K form, which is the standardised form used to report annual earnings over there.
They are currently swapping hands at $43.39 per share, a nearly 6% rise over the past week.
The gains follow a strong FY24 performance, with the company reporting growth in net profit compared to last year.
Let's see what the company posted.
News Corp shares continue their ascent
News Corp delivered robust results for FY24, including the following highlights:
- Full-year revenue was $10.09 billion, up 2% year on year
- Net income: $354 million, an 89% increase compared to FY23
- Total Segment EBITDA was $1.54 billion, up 8%
- Dividends of 10 cents per share declared, payable September 11
What else happened in FY24?
News Corp shares have drifted higher following the company's annual numbers. In FY24, News Corp made a number of interesting moves for its future growth.
The company signed a multi-year global partnership with OpenAI "to fashion a future for professional journalism…"
This partnership is set to be "lucrative", according to management.
Net profit growth was also tremendously strong, up nearly 90% year over year to $354 million. Its major segments, like Digital Real Estate Services, Book Publishing, and Dow Jones led this growth.
Following a strategic review of the business and its assets, News Corp also said it is exploring a potential sale of its Foxtel business after receiving third-party interest.
Both of these updates – and more – have seen investors buying News Corp shares en masse since its results were posted last week.
What did management say?
News Corp's CEO, Robert Thomson, highlighted the company's achievements. Although he didn't provide formal guidance, he sees bright spots:
Fiscal 2024 was an outstanding year for News Corp, as we not only delivered robust earnings growth and created substantial shareholder value, but took a significant step to prepare the Company to prosper in the AI age.
For the quarter, revenues grew 6% to almost $2.6 billion, while net income improved significantly and profitability advanced by 11% to a fourth-quarter record. Our core pillars of growth – Book Publishing, Digital Real Estate Services and Dow Jones – inspired the increasing profitability, and their strength augurs well for Fiscal 2025.
We are confident in the Company's long-term prospects and are continuing to review our portfolio with a focus on maximizing returns for shareholders.
What's next?
Management didn't provide formal guidance, but it is shaping up to be an interesting year for the company.
Management says a sale of its Foxtel business would unlock cash, but it also has around US$600 million of loans to settle with that entity on any sale.
On the FY4 earnings call, management did say it expects "the rate of investment at Hubbl to be lower in fiscal 2025", along with "modestly higher programming costs related to sports rights escalators".
News Corp share price snapshot
News Corp shares continue their ascent this week after the company posted a solid set of results for its FY24 annual report.
In the last 12 months, the stock is up 28%.
