Cable news and media network Fox (NASDAQ: FOXA) beat Wall Street’s revenue expectations in Q3 CY2025, with sales up 4.9% year on year to $3.74 billion. Its non-GAAP profit of $1.51 per share was 37.4% above analysts’ consensus estimates.
Is now the time to buy FOX? Find out by accessing our full research report, it’s free for active Edge members.
FOX (FOXA) Q3 CY2025 Highlights:
- Revenue: $3.74 billion vs analyst estimates of $3.57 billion (4.9% year-on-year growth, 4.6% beat)
- Adjusted EPS: $1.51 vs analyst estimates of $1.10 (37.4% beat)
- Adjusted EBITDA: $1.07 billion vs analyst estimates of $843.3 million (28.5% margin, 26.3% beat)
- Operating Margin: 28.5%, up from 26.7% in the same quarter last year
- Free Cash Flow was -$234 million, down from $94 million in the same quarter last year
- Market Capitalization: $25.61 billion
Company Overview
Founded in 1915, Fox (NASDAQ: FOXA) is a diversified media company, operating prominent cable news, television broadcasting, and digital media platforms.
Revenue Growth
A company’s long-term performance is an indicator of its overall quality. Any business can experience short-term success, but top-performing ones enjoy sustained growth for years. Over the last five years, FOX grew its sales at a sluggish 5.9% compounded annual growth rate. This was below our standard for the consumer discretionary sector and is a tough starting point for our analysis.
We at StockStory place the most emphasis on long-term growth, but within consumer discretionary, a stretched historical view may miss a company riding a successful new product or trend. FOX’s annualized revenue growth of 5.1% over the last two years aligns with its five-year trend, suggesting its demand was consistently weak. 
We can better understand the company’s revenue dynamics by analyzing its most important segments, Advertising and Affiliate, which are 37.8% and 51.2% of revenue. Over the last two years, FOX’s Advertising revenue (marketing services) averaged 7% year-on-year growth while its Affiliate revenue (licensing and retransmission fees) averaged 4.5% growth. 
This quarter, FOX reported modest year-on-year revenue growth of 4.9% but beat Wall Street’s estimates by 4.6%.
Looking ahead, sell-side analysts expect revenue to decline by 1.7% over the next 12 months, a deceleration versus the last two years. This projection doesn't excite us and indicates its products and services will face some demand challenges.
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Operating Margin
FOX’s operating margin has been trending up over the last 12 months and averaged 19.5% over the last two years. On top of that, its profitability was top-notch for a consumer discretionary business, showing it’s an well-run company with an efficient cost structure.
In Q3, FOX generated an operating margin profit margin of 28.5%, up 1.8 percentage points year on year. This increase was a welcome development and shows it was more efficient.
Earnings Per Share
We track the long-term change in earnings per share (EPS) for the same reason as long-term revenue growth. Compared to revenue, however, EPS highlights whether a company’s growth is profitable.
FOX’s EPS grew at a decent 11.3% compounded annual growth rate over the last five years, higher than its 5.9% annualized revenue growth. However, this alone doesn’t tell us much about its business quality because its operating margin didn’t improve.
In Q3, FOX reported adjusted EPS of $1.51, up from $1.45 in the same quarter last year. This print easily cleared analysts’ estimates, and shareholders should be content with the results. Over the next 12 months, Wall Street expects FOX’s full-year EPS of $4.84 to shrink by 8.1%.
Key Takeaways from FOX’s Q3 Results
It was good to see FOX beat analysts’ EPS expectations this quarter. We were also excited its EBITDA outperformed Wall Street’s estimates by a wide margin. Zooming out, we think this quarter featured some important positives. The stock traded up 2.4% to $62.32 immediately after reporting.
FOX had an encouraging quarter, but one earnings result doesn’t necessarily make the stock a buy. Let’s see if this is a good investment. The latest quarter does matter, but not nearly as much as longer-term fundamentals and valuation, when deciding if the stock is a buy. We cover that in our actionable full research report which you can read here, it’s free for active Edge members.
