While entertainment company Fox (FOXA) has had a rough go of things with sports lately—particularly after the ultimate loss of the Venu sports concept at the judicial level—that is not slowing down its sports operations by much. In fact, new reports have emerged saying just how much Fox stands to make on the Super Bowl, and that news is sending shares up modestly in Wednesday afternoon’s trading.
Invest with Confidence:
- Follow TipRanks' Top Wall Street Analysts to uncover their success rate and average return.
- Join thousands of data-driven investors – Build your Smart Portfolio for personalized insights.
New reports say that Fox is pulling in as much as $8 million per ad, and already, it has sold over 10 such commercials at that rate. That represents a record high, the report noted, and Fox has completely sold out of its ad inventory for the big game. The previous record, as revealed from its November earnings call, noted average prices running around $7 million per ad. And back then, that was considered “record pricing” as well. With open slots running out, the prices on the remaining slots surged, and gave us the record $8 million figure.
Live sports continue to draw crowds, and as such,that means big money to reach those crowds. And plenty of industries are willing to shell out. The clear winners right now are car makers and food / beverage companies. But this year, these companies are joined by pharmaceutical companies and even artificial intelligence makers that are looking to get their products out in front of people.
More Than Just Sports
While Fox landed a windfall from the Super Bowl, it is not merely pinning its future to that one event. Reports note that the news division is still roaring along, and turning in some big numbers, putting it ahead of its competitors in the January ratings.
Fox News pulled in 2.78 million viewers in prime time, which is actually a 40% increase against the same time a month prior. By way of comparison, CNN could only land 522,000 in that same time, and MSNBC could only bring in 734,000. CNN’s figures were down 14% against the same time a month prior, while MSNBC lost 33%. The 25 – 54 demographic, vital for news viewership, was similarly skewed in Fox’s favor, with Fox up 61% to reach 353,000.
Is FOXA a Good Stock to Buy?
Turning to Wall Street, analysts have a Moderate Buy consensus rating on FOXA stock based on eight Buys and nine Holds assigned in the past three months, as indicated by the graphic below. After a 59.12% rally in its share price over the past year, the average FOXA price target of $48.63 per share implies 3.89% downside risk.
