Why AMC Networks Is Crashing Today
Shares of cable television content provider AMC Networks (NASDAQ: AMCX) are deep in the red today, down 18.2% as of 12:35 p.m. ET following the release of fiscal fourth-quarter results. The company didn't miss its revenue or earnings estimates, however, for the quarter in question. Rather, a rival television name dropped a bomb of its own that created an industrywide ripple effect.
That rival is ViacomCBS (NASDAQ: VIAC) (NASDAQ: VIAC.A), parent to the CBS network as well as Viacom, which owns cable channels such as MTV, Comedy Central, and Showtime. It's also the name behind Paramount, the Paramount+ premium streaming service, and ad-supported streaming platform PlutoTV.
It's ViacomCBS's streaming businesses that up-ended AMC Networks' stock today. While the company added a record-breaking 9.4 million viewers to its streaming viewer base during the three-month stretch ending in December, that growth came at a steep price. ViacomCBS' Q4 operating income of $0.26 per share was well under the year-ago comparison of $1.04, and missed analysts' consensus estimates ranging from $0.43 to $0.76 per share. Its streaming business is costing the company a relative fortune, yet ViacomCBS also said it's upping its annual streaming content budget from $4 billion to $6 billion.
Source Fool.com