Liberty Media (LMCA) Reverses To Earnings In Q3; Sales Up

Liberty Media Corp. (NASDAQ:LMCA) reported strong financial results in the third quarter of 2016. The top line increased year over year while the bottom line beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate.

Quarterly net income came in at $115 million or 48 cents per share compared with a net loss of $22 million or a loss of 7 cents per share in the year-ago quarter. However, third-quarter earnings per share of 48 cents are in stark contrast with the Zacks Consensus Estimate of a loss of 40 cents.

Quarterly total revenue came in at $1,385 million, up from $1,284 million in the prior-year quarter. Quarterly Subscriber revenues were $1,069 million, up 10.3% year over year while Other revenues totaled $316 million, flat year over year.

In the reported quarter, Liberty Media’s adjusted operating income before depreciation and amortization was $485 million compared with $473 million in the year-ago quarter. Quarterly operating income was $352 million compared with $321 million in the prior-year quarter. Adjusted EBITDA was $491.9 million, up 10% from the year-ago quarter.

In the first three quarters of 2016, Liberty Media generated $1,651 million of cash from operations compared with $893 million in the prior-year quarter. Free cash flow in the reported period was approximately $1,333 million, up from $717 million in the year-ago quarter.

At the end of the third quarter of 2016, Liberty Media had $940 million of cash and cash equivalents compared with $201 million at the end of 2015. Total debt at third quarter end was $8,119 million compared with $6,881 million at 2015 end. The debt-to-capitalization ratio was 0.39 at the end of the third quarter, compared with 0.27 at the end of 2015.

Liberty Media partially controls media company Viacom Inc. (NASDAQ:VIAB) and concert promoter Live Nation Entertainment Inc. (NYSE:LYV) . Moreover, Liberty Media holds a majority stake in satellite radio broadcaster SIRIUS XM Radio Inc. (NASDAQ:SIRI) . Liberty Media currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

LIBERTY MEDIA-A Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise

LIBERTY MEDIA-A Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise | LIBERTY MEDIA-A Quote

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