Nexstar’s 3Q Net Revenue Climbs 9.7%

Nexstar Media Group this morning reported financial results for the third quarter of 2022 that included record 3Q net revenue of $1.27 billion, an increase of 9.7% from the same quarter of 2021.

The 3Q revenue comprised:

• Core ad revenue of $400 million, down 7.6%.
• Political ad revenue of $129.3 million, up 943%.
• Distribution fee revenue of $642 million, up 3.7%.
• Digital revenue of $86 million, up 5.7%.
• Other revenue of $13 million, up 5.8%.

Income from operations was $355.3 million, up 28.1%.

Net income totaled $287.5 million, an increase of 70%.

Free cash flow was $294 million, up 16.6%.

Perry A. Sook, Nexstar chairman, president and CEO, said: “Nexstar delivered another quarter of record financial results as third quarter net revenue rose 9.7%, led by strong growth in political advertising, distribution, and digital revenue. Adjusted EBITDA and free cash flow were also third quarter records and we returned 85.2% of our free cash flow to shareholders through a combination of dividends and share repurchases. Our focus on generating strong free cash flow and enhancing shareholder value are highlighted by our 2022 year-to-date return of $729.6 million to shareholders.

“Nexstar’s results continue to benefit from our diverse, scaled, efficient and low leverage business model. Over 50% of revenue is contractual and from non-advertising sources and approximately 70% of our core advertising is from local advertisers which are historically more consistent in their spend throughout economic cycles. Nexstar has built an unparalleled local moat with more than 1,500 local sellers and 40,000 advertiser relationships in the 116 local markets we serve across America. In addition, we are extremely well positioned to continue to benefit from record levels of political advertising spending which is not dependent on the economy.

“We expect the fourth quarter to benefit from a continuation of strong political advertising trends while 2023 will see distribution revenue upside from renewals of agreements representing more than half of our subscribers. Looking forward, we expect 2024 to benefit from another record year for political advertising due to the presidential election combined with the benefit of another wave of distribution agreement renewals for approximately 40% our subscribers.

“Longer-term, we believe implementing our plans for The CW Network, growing NewsNation and progressing towards the monetization of our spectrum through the deployment of ATSC 3.0 technology will complement our other growth initiatives to support the further enhancement of shareholder value.”

Read the company’s report here.