(By Balaseshan) Madison Square Garden Co. (NASDAQ:MSG) shares jumped in early trade on Friday after the company reported quarterly earnings that more than tripled on higher revenue from its sports, media and entertainment units. Results came in ahead of Street's expectations.
Earnings for the fourth quarter were $28.56 million or $0.37 per share, higher than last year's $8.53 million or $0.11 per share.
Revenue climbed 42.3% to $332.92 million.
Analysts, on average, polled by Thomson Reuters had expected a profit of $0.22 per share on revenue of $277.14 million for the fourth quarter.
MSG Media revenue grew 20% to $167.0 million, primarily attributable to higher affiliation rates and to a short-term programming licensing agreement.
MSG Entertainment revenue jumped 41% due to an increase in the overall number of events, including promoted events, as well as higher suite rental fee, sponsorship and signage revenues.
MSG Sports revenue climbed 74% to $131.2 million, on higher playoff-related revenue, professional sports team ticket-related revenue, suite rental fee revenue, sponsorship and signage revenue, and food, beverage and merchandise revenue.
Adjusted operating cash flow (AOCF) soared 90% to $77.8 million, primarily driven by an AOCF increase in the MSG Sports segment and, to a lesser extent, by an AOCF increase in the MSG Media segment and improved AOCF results in the MSG Entertainment segment.
MSG is trading up 7.45% at $43.25 on Friday. The stock has been trading between $21.12 and $44.75 for the past 52 weeks.