Fox Corp hits advertising revenue record in first quarter
CEO Lachlan Murdoch credits robust trends across news, sports and entertainment
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Shares of Fox Corporation hit an all-time high intraday Thursday after the media giant posted a record first quarter for advertising revenue.
The parent company of Fox News and FOX Business reported its quarterly revenues were $3.74 billion in the first quarter of the company's fiscal year 2026, which ended on Sept. 30. That represented an increase of $174 million or 5% from the same period in the prior year.
| Ticker | Security | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| FOXA | FOX CORP. | 65.51 | +4.70 | +7.73% |
"Advertising revenue grew 6% during the quarter despite not having last year's political revenue with robust trends at news, sports, entertainment and Tubi," Fox Corp. CEO Lachlan Murdoch said during an earnings call.
"This is supported by a gain in engagement across the portfolio, which distinguishes us from our peers and again underscores the strength of our brands and the leading positions they hold in our ecosystem," Murdoch added.
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Fox Corp. CEO Lachlan Murdoch noted the rise in advertising revenue despite political ad spending declining compared with last year. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images / Getty Images)
Advertising revenue in the quarter totaled a little more than $1.4 billion, up from the roughly $1.3 billion reported in the same quarter last year. First quarter ad revenue touched the highest in Fox News Media history.
| Ticker | Security | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| FOX | FOX CORP. | 58.39 | -0.44 | -0.75% |
Within Fox's cable networks, advertising revenue was $345 million in Q1 2026, up from $321 million in Q1 2025. That increase was primarily due to higher news pricing.
Total revenues for Fox's cable network programming totaled $1.66 billion, up $65 million or 4% from the amount reported in the prior year quarter.
"We're up 63% share versus our news competitors. And I think for prime time, we're at 65% share versus our new competitors. But equally important is, you know, we are the number one channel in all of television year to date" Murdoch noted.
FOX News Channel continues to buck industry softness beating ABC, CBS and NBC in weekday primetime viewers for the year to date, according to Nielsen Media Research.
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Fox Corp. is the parent company of FOXBusiness.com as well as Fox News. (Erik McGregor/LightRocket via Getty Images / Getty Images)
The momentum for Fox is continuing with demand rising.
"I think we've had about 350 new national clients on Fox News this year. And they continue to spend and, in most cases, increase their spend. So, pricing that's driving, pricing up both from a direct perspective of partnerships but also in direct response where we're seeing very, very healthy, very strong pricing" Murdoch added.
Fox Corp. also announced that it expects to enter into a $1.5 billion accelerated share repurchase transaction that begins on Friday, Oct. 31.
Fox Corp.
.The plan anticipates the repurchase of $700 million of Class A Common Stock as well as $800 million of Class B Common Stock, and Fox expects to conclude those repurchase transactions during the second half of the company's fiscal year 2026.
Shares have gained over 33% this year, outpacing the S&P 500's 16% rise.
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Fox Corp. is the parent company of FOXBusiness and Fox News.