Starz Misses On Profit And Revenue, But Subscriptions Jump

Media and Entertainment company Starz Inc. missed FactSet consensus on earnings per share and revenue when it reported second-quarter earnings Wednesday morning. Starz said it had earnings of $63.4 million, or 59 cents a share, down from $70.1 million, or 62 cents a share, in the year-earlier period, and below the FactSet consensus of 64 cents a share. Revenue came in at $418 million, up from $410 million a year ago, but below the FactSet consensus of $450 million. The network said its original programming is on track to reach 75-80 new episodes of original series. Starz subscriptions increased 1.5 million to 23.5 million. Starz's stock, which was still inactive in premarket trade, is up 51% in the year to date.