Fox Shares Climb 7% After Company Reports Improved Earnings Thanks To Cable Networks

Shares of 21st Century Fox Inc. enjoyed a 7% bump on Thursday, a day after the company reported fiscal first-quarter earnings and revenue that were above Wall Street expectations. The media company posted adjusted per-share earnings of 51 cents, which is an improvement compared with the same quarter a year ago and above the 44 cents expected by FactSet. Revenue for the quarter hit $6.506 billion, above the FactSet consensus of $6.474 billion and an improvement over last year. Higher affiliate and advertising revenue helped drive a 6% increase in the cable network business, though that was partially offset by increased expenses due to the cost of the Rio Olympics. For Fox News, advertising revenue rose 6% thanks to higher ratings and pricing. Broadcast TV revenue fell 1% due to lower ad contributions. Fox shares are up more than 1% in the year to date, underperforming the S&P 500 Index , which is up nearly 3%