The first-quarter story for Nexstar Media Group is not much different, on the surface, to that seen by Sinclair Broadcast Group: Net income missed Street forecasts, while net revenue did. Investors were satisfied, and Nexstar shares enjoyed a healthy boost on Wednesday.
Nexstar shares gained 2.5%, to $63.90, for a much-needed improvement after a short-term slump seen in the last several months.
This is largely thanks to a Q1 that saw core advertising revenue climb 6.5%, to $260.3 million. Local ad revenue jumped 8.3%, to $193.3 million.
Political grew by 446%, thanks to the primary elections and dollars flowing to TV.
This helped net revenue rise by 13.9%, to $615.34 million, exceeding Street forecasts. Five analysts surveyed by Zacks expected $613.2 million.
Net income surged to $48.1 million ($1.01 per diluted share), from $4.9 million (13 cents).
However, adjusted earnings per share were $1.03, and that was short of the average estimate of five analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for earnings of $1.12 per share.
