TEGNA’s TGNA fourth-quarter 2024 non-GAAP earnings of $1.21 per share beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 5.22% and increased 181.4% on a year-over-year basis.

Find the latest EPS estimates and surprises on Zacks Earnings Calendar.

TGNA’s earnings beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate in each of the trailing four quarters, the average surprise being 6.29%.

Revenues increased 19.9% year over year to $870.5 million, missing the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 0.09%. The revenues were within the company’s guidance of 19-21% growth. The year-over-year increase was primarily due to strength in political advertising revenues as there proved to be a strong election cycle across the third and fourth quarters.

During the fourth quarter, TEGNA returned more than $20 million of capital to shareholders with $50 million of share repurchases.

Quarter in Detail

Advertising and Marketing Services revenues (36.1% of total revenues) decreased 10.8% year over year to $314 million, primarily due to political displacement and continued softness from national accounts.

Subscription revenues (41% of total revenues) increased 5.3% year over year to $357.3 million, which was driven by contractual rate increases, MVPD contract renewals in the fourth quarter and a favorable comparison to a disruption of service with the distributor in the prior year, which was offset by subscriber declines.

Political revenues (21.5% of total revenues) were $187.4 million, up from $22.9 million reported in the year-ago period. 

Other revenues (1.4% of total revenues) were $11.8 million, up 0.3% year over year.

Non-GAAP adjusted EBITDA increased 76.2% year over year to $312.1 million. Adjusted EBITDA margin expanded 1,140 basis points (bps) from the year-ago period to 35.8%.

Non-GAAP operating expenses (67.3% of total revenues) of $586.2 million were up 1.7% year over year.

Non-GAAP operating income increased 90.6% year over year to $284.3 million. The operating margin expanded 1,210 bps from the year-ago period to 32.7%.

Balance Sheet & Cash Flow

As of Dec. 31, 2024, total cash and cash equivalents were $693 million, compared with $536 million as of Sept. 30, 2024.

Total debt was $2.4 billion, and net leverage was 2.7 times as of Dec. 31, 2024.

Adjusted free cash flow in the fourth quarter was $247 million compared with $211.4 million reported in the previous quarter.

Outlook

For the first quarter of 2025, Tegna expects total GAAP revenues to decrease 4-7%, primarily reflecting lower political revenues.

Non-GAAP operating expenses are estimated to be flat to up slightly in the first quarter, which is expected to be driven by higher programming expenses, offset by the core operational cost reductions.

The company expects its 2024/2025 two-year adjusted FCF to be between $900 million and $1.1 billion.

Zacks Rank and Stocks to Consider

Currently, TGNA carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).

Some better-ranked stocks in the broader sector are Advantage Solutions ADV, American Outdoor Brands AOUT and BJ’s Wholesale Club BJ, each carrying a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) at present. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

Advantage Solutions is scheduled to report its fourth-quarter 2024 results on March 7. American Outdoor Brands is set to report its third-quarter fiscal 2025 results on March 6 and BJ’s Wholesale Club is scheduled to post its fourth-quarter 2024 results on March 6.

Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report

BJ's Wholesale Club Holdings, Inc. (BJ) : Free Stock Analysis Report

TEGNA Inc. (TGNA) : Free Stock Analysis Report

American Outdoor Brands, Inc. (AOUT) : Free Stock Analysis Report

Advantage Solutions Inc. (ADV) : Free Stock Analysis Report

This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

Zacks Investment Research