Aug 5 (Reuters) - Fox Corp FOXA.O topped Wall Street estimates for quarterly revenue and profit on Tuesday, driven by a surge in advertising, affiliate fee and continued growth at its free ad-supported streaming service, Tubi.
Shares of Fox rose 1.8% in premarket trading after the company also announced a $5 billion increase to its share repurchase authorization.
The owner of Fox News saw revenue from affiliate fee rising 2.6% in the fiscal fourth quarter, driven by growth across both its cable and television segments.
Fox has benefited from improving advertising trends despite tough comparisons from major international sports events like Copa America and the UEFA European Championship in the same period a year before.
Advertising revenues grew 7.1% in the quarter, primarily due to continued digital growth led by Tubi, and higher news ratings and pricing.
Growth at Tubi significantly bolsters Fox by expanding its reach into the rapidly growing, ad-supported streaming sector, attracting large numbers of younger, cord-cutting viewers who are increasingly hard to reach through traditional television channels.
Building on this growing momentum, Fox is set to launch a new subscription-based streaming service called Fox One ahead of the American football season, aiming to reach audiences beyond its mainstay cable television business.
In June, the company acquired sports-focused streaming platform and television channel Caliente TV to expand its sports broadcasting presence in Mexico.
Fox's total revenue rose 6.3% to $3.29 billion in the fourth quarter, beating estimates of $3.12 billion, according to data compiled by LSEG.
The company also reported a nearly 7% jump in revenue in its cable network programming unit to $1.53 billion, at a time when customers are shifting to digital streaming.
Adjusted profit attributable to Fox's stockholders was $1.27 per share, compared with estimates of 99 cents.
(Reporting by Harshita Mary Varghese in Bengaluru; Editing by Maju Samuel)
((HarshitaMary.Varghese@thomsonreuters.com;))