AMC Global Media Inc. Class A Common Stock Q2 2026 Earnings Call

Thank you for standing by and welcome to AMC Global Media. S Second quarter 2020 Earnings conference Call Currently, all participants are in a listen only mode. After the speakers presentation, there will be a question and answer session. To ask a question during the session, you will need to press star one one on your telephone. To remove yourself from the queue, you may press star one one again. I would now like to hand the call over to Nicholas Seibert, SVP Corporate Development and Investor Relations. Please go ahead.

Thank you. Good morning, and welcome to the AMC Global Media Second quarter 2020 Earnings conference call. Joining us this morning are Kristen Dolan, Chief Executive Officer. Kim Kelleher President and Chief Commercial officer. Dan McDermott, Chief Content Officer and president of AMC Studios. And Joseph Lokhandwala, chief financial officer. We will begin with prepared remarks, and then we'll open the call for questions. Today's call may include certain forward looking statements within the meaning of the private securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Any such forward looking statements are not guarantees of future performance or results, and involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ. Please refer to our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission for a discussion of risks and uncertainties. The company disclaims any obligation to update any forward looking statements made today We will discuss certain non-GAAP financial measures on this call. The required definitions and reconciliations can be found in the press release we issued this morning, which is available on our website at AMC Global Media dot com. And with that, I'd like to turn the call over to Kristen Thanks, Nick, and good morning, everyone. I'd like to start with some news that underscores the value of our owned IP and the importance of our studio business.

This morning, we announced a global Co-exclusive licensing agreement with Netflix for the streaming rights to the entire Walking Dead universe. All seven series and 371 episodes. This agreement expands our relationship with one of our most important partners and creates a global streaming home for this landmark franchise It also allows us to bring the original The Walking Dead series to AMC plus for the first time. This new agreement highlights the strength of our studio model and ability of our owned IP to create long term value for both AMC Global Media and our partners Dark wins is another example of how our content continues to find new audiences and generate value across platforms. Season four launched on Netflix earlier this month as part of our branded AMC collection, and as we've seen with prior seasons, immediately reach their U.S. top ten list in the U.S. and around the world. Our content is the foundation of partnerships with a broad range of range of industry leaders, including Sky, Deutsche Telekom, BBC Canal Plus, HBO Max, ITV, Netflix, Amazon and so many others. As we noted on our last call, we expected the second quarter to be the low point for AOY with stronger performance in the back half of the year Results were in line with these expectations At the same time, we're pleased to share today that we are raising our guidance for the full year, which Josepha will discuss in more detail Our updated outlook layers in The Walking Dead licensing agreement, as well as subscriber acquisition that came in slightly below our expectations in the first half of the year.

As geopolitical events and high profile sports programming captured outsized consumer attention. Our streaming business is built around bringing passionate fans the content they love. This strategy creates an engaged and loyal base of subscribers with deep connections to our brands. We take a long range view of this business and the critical role our distribution partners play across all of our platforms. Streaming linear and fast as. Teaming and linear continue to converge and increasing number of viewers experience our services through Hard bundled arrangements. This combined distribution delivers additional value to the customer. Strengthens our affiliate relationships and builds revenue partnerships focused on the future across Charter and Philo, AMC plus, and all reality have already generated 2.3 million activations and direct TV recently launched AMC plus as a hard bundle offering in their entertainment genre package, which will further contribute to the growth of this category. We recently renewed with major distributors Comcast and YouTube, our new long term agreement with YouTube includes the distribution of our seven streaming services. Five linear networks, and many of our fast channels, as well as the future launch of our networks in YouTube TV's genre packages. Our recent affiliate activity demonstrates the value distributors see in our portfolio and the impact of our long range view Over the last 12 months, we have renewed with four of the five major domestic mvpds, including Comcast, DirecTV, dish, and YouTube.

Our upfront discussions are progressing well with strong client engagement and constructive conversations across categories. Excluding the impact of an isolated technical issue. In the second quarter, domestic advertising revenue decreased in the mid-single digits. We remain encouraged by the notable improvements in advertising revenue, trends and strong growth in digital in the first half of the year. Our linear brands continue to resonate with viewers. Franchise reality hits like Love After Lockup, and the new series This Is Polly are delivering strong viewership and reinforcing the power of our original programming. The majority of our linear networks have seen ratings growth in prime time from the previous quarter, led by gains of 21% at Wetv on AMC, TNA Wrestling's Thursday night impact just hit an all time ratings high earlier this month and is bringing new and live viewers to the network. Acorn TV was one of the earliest streamers built around a specific genre, in this case, international crime dramas and mysteries. Last year, we launched an effort to re-energize Acorn with a slate of new shows and iconic talent, and the results have exceeded our expectations. We just renewed the breakout hit, Art detectives, for a second season.

Inspector Ellis, starring Sharon D Clarke, has returned with big viewership gains over season one. In addition to the strong performance at Acorn, our other services continue to super serve their distinct audiences In the second quarter, we saw a sequential improvement in retention and a double digit increase in engagement across our portfolio of streaming services. Even as we implemented price increases. Now. For a few additional programming highlights. We're coming off another successful San Diego Comic-Con, where the strength of our franchises was on full display. We announced the fourth season renewal of Anne Rice's interview with the vampire after the vampire Lestat delivered higher. AMC plus viewership versus the prior season, and strong fan and critical response. We also celebrated the season three launch of The Walking Dead, Dead City with a standing room only Hall H panel and screening that demonstrated the strong, ongoing fan engagement and cultural impact of the series. Next month, we start production on Thunder Road, the multi-generational racing drama starring Dennis Quaid, that we are making in partnership with NASCAR. This series, which is already generated strong advertiser interest, will be produced at our studio facility in Senoia, Georgia. The longtime home of the Walking Dead franchise in.

Addition to creating programs for our own platforms, our studio team is actively developing projects with a range of leading distributors. Producing for others is a natural offshoot of our internal development process. You may recall that we developed and produced the breakout Apple TV+ hit silo, the strength of our studio operation is rooted in production expertise, enduring creative relationships, and a long track record of creating stories that resonate with audiences. We look forward to sharing more details on these projects as they progress since Joyce. The company in June, our new CFO, Josepha Lochinvar, has hit the ground running. He's a great addition to our leadership team and brings deep experience across media strategy and finance Before I hand the call over to Josepha, I want to take a brief moment to thank all of our partners for recognizing the value and impact of our world class content. I'd also like to thank our team for their continued execution as we expand the audiences for our content and create additional value for our company. Josepha, over to you.

Thank you. Kristen. As the media landscape continues to evolve. AMC Global Media stands out as a differentiated player with the assets and capabilities to succeed in this dynamic time. Having spent the past month and a half digging in, I'm particularly impressed by the company's world class studio, impactful portfolio of owned IP and franchises. The distinct, valuable brands that drive monetization across multiple channels, including streaming, linear fast, AVOd, as well as our strong licensing business, which partners with third party distributors that value our content. It is an exciting time to have joined the team, and I'm happy to be on the call today. As. Mentioned, we recently entered into a new content licensing agreement with Netflix for the Co global streaming rights to The Walking Dead universe. A powerful indication of the lasting global demand for this IP and a testament to our ability to build out valuable franchises At the conclusion of the license period, the rights to this highly sought after franchise revert back to us. With a license period of five years and total contracted license fees of $500 million. This agreement provides us visibility over a multiyear time horizon. Licence fees are payable by Netflix over the license period and quarterly cash installments on a title by title basis, with payments beginning at the start date for each individual title in 2026, we expect to receive cash payments of approximately $25 million.

Looking further out, we anticipate annual cash payments of approximately 100,000,000 in 27, 28, 29 and 30, with the remainder due in 2031. As a result of the five year payment schedule, we will recognize revenue based on the present value of the future payments and expect to recognize total revenue of approximately $445 million over the life of the agreement. We expect that approximately 200 million to 225 million of that revenue will be recognized in 2026, and in 2027. I'll have more to share regarding the financial implications of this agreement and how it benefits our full year outlook. Later in my remarks. Moving on to our second quarter consolidated results. Net revenue declined 9% year over year to 547 million. Consolidated A-y of $46 million represents the low point for this year, and as Kristin mentioned, was consistent with the expectations we laid out on our first quarter call. AI reflected the timing of licensing, revenue and increased marketing, investments. Related to the series premieres. These timing dynamics are now in the rear view mirror, and we anticipate a growth for the second half of the year. Free cash flow was $43 million for the quarter, with $108 million of free cash generated in the first six months of the year.

We are on track to achieve our increased free cash flow guidance of approximately $220 million this year. Moving to our segment results, domestic operations revenue decreased 11% to $470 million in the second quarter. Overall subscription revenue decreased by 5%, which reflects streaming revenue growth of 6%. That partly offset declines in affiliate of 17%, which were in line with our expectations for the quarter. We anticipate that our affiliate revenue rate of decline will improve in the second half of the year, as new agreements and contractual changes take effect. Streaming revenue growth in the second quarter was primarily driven by price increases across our services. Domestic operations, advertising revenue included the one time impact of a now resolved system, integration issue in the second quarter Excluding this one time impact, advertising revenue declined by mid-single digits, percent due to lower ratings and marketplace pricing, partially offset by continued digital advertising growth. Second quarter content licensing revenue was $56 million and reflected the timing and availability of deliveries in the period. We see continued strong demand for our content, as evidenced by the recent activity we've already covered in great detail. Regarding adjusted operating income for the quarter, domestic operations, AI was $61 million and reflected revenue performance and the timing of marketing investments primarily related to the timing of series premieres Moving to international, international revenue increased by 4% to $79 million for the second quarter.

Excluding the favorable impact of foreign currency translation. International revenue increased approximately 2%. International subscription revenue, excluding FX, decreased 3%, reflecting the impact of the previously disclosed wind down of a joint venture that operated primarily in Poland and Africa. Second quarter international advertising revenue, excluding FX, increased 11%, primarily related to revenue from the outperformance of advertising in the fourth quarter of 2025. International AI for the second quarter was $14 million, with an 18% margin. Turning to the balance sheet, in the second quarter, we paid down our remaining term loan A and terminated our credit facility. We ended the quarter with approximately $464 million of cash. We've been we've meaningfully improved our debt maturity profile. Now, with three quarters of our total debt not due until July of 2032. At quarter end, we had net debt of approximately $1.3 billion and a consolidated net leverage ratio of 4.1 times As a result of the timing and cadence of AI and cash generation throughout the year. Our second quarter net leverage ratio represents the high point for the year Regarding capital allocation, our philosophy has not changed. First, we look to fuel the business by creating and acquiring compelling programming that resonates with our audiences.

While maintaining healthy levels of free cash flow generation. Second, we remain focused on reducing gross debt and managing our maturity profile. Lastly, M&A and share repurchases will be opportunistic and measured. Moving to. Our updated outlook for 2026. First, regarding revenue, we now anticipate full year consolidated revenue in the range of 2.4 to $2.45 billion. Our updated revenue outlook reflects the inclusion of approximately 200 to 225 million of content licensing revenue related to The Walking Dead License Agreement. This implies that the full year domestic operations content licensing revenue will be in the range of 460 to $485 million. Additionally, our updated revenue expectations reflect the effect of slower than anticipated subscriber acquisition that we experienced in the first half. As such, we now anticipate that domestic operations subscription revenue will decrease modestly by approximately 3% for the full year as compared to our 2025 results. Moving to adjusted operating income. We are increasing our full year outlook to reflect our increased revenue expectations, partly offset by additional programming expenses related to The Walking Dead License Agreement, and now anticipate AI in the range of 410 to 420 million for the full year. Regarding free cash flow, it is important to note that the content licensing revenue is recognized upon the delivery of a series and the timing of cash payments is based upon a negotiated payment schedule.

This causes a timing mismatch between when revenue is recognized and when cash is received from an outside perspective. These dynamics can make licensing revenue appear volatile from quarter to quarter or year to year. Generally, IP licensing delivers a contracted stream of defined cash payments with high cash margins, providing us clarity and confidence into the longer term. Cash generation potential of the business. We are increasing our free cash flow guidance to reflect anticipated in-year cash payments associated with the licensing agreement, we announced today. As such, we now expect free cash flow of approximately $220 million for the full year. In closing. Our content remains at the center of everything we do and remain committed to the engaging audiences across our multifaceted distribution ecosystem with comparable volumes of high quality content every year, and will continue building out our library of powerful franchises while maintaining our focus on cash flow generation and the balance sheet. With that, I'll now hand the call back to Nick.

Thanks, Josepha. Operator, please open the line for the Q&A session.

Thank you. As a reminder to ask a question, you will need to press star one one on your telephone to remove yourself from the queue. You may press star one one again. Please stand by while we compile the Q&A roster. Our. First question comes from the line of Sean Diffley of Morgan Stanley. Your line is open. Sean Great. Thanks so much, team, and congrats on the Netflix deal for The Walking Dead. I was hoping you could take us behind the scenes on the competitive bidding process. You know how many bidders were there? What drove your decision to go with Netflix and then if you could, obviously there the incumbent and they know the property well, but just how many other parties were interested and why you chose to stay with them? And then just on the core adjustment to the full year, I think you mentioned geo. Geopolitical uncertainty, sports. I'd imagine some World Cup impact, but just to mention some of the other drivers that are headwinds for the full year guide, thanks very much.

Great. Hi, Sean. It's Kristin on the bidding process. As we said last quarter, we had, you know, a lot of the major players involved. And, you know, there was a variety of things to consider. We always knew we wanted to do a co-exclusive deal, but the opportunity to license everything to everybody, to one group globally versus piecemeal, there are a lot of different factors that impacted the decision. But, you know, I agree with you that Netflix has been an incredible partner for us and for this franchise. And at the end of the day, it was just the right choice for us to make. Then on the core adjustment, you know, I think,, there's a variety of things going on your, your World Cup statement is something we've talked about a lot over this quarter. The impact across the world of the World Cup on a variety of businesses, including ours. But we're seeing some green shoots and we're we're excited, you know, about the increase in the streaming over the course of the year. And we were actually really, really positively impacted in a bunch of ways by our linear performance. And so I'll let some of the others weigh in on, on that question.

But we're more focused now on the back half of the year. And as we said, we anticipate much better performance coming out of of what we knew was going to be a lumpy quarter. Great.

Yep., next. Question, please. Operator.

Our next question. Comes from the Line of David Karnovsky of JP Morgan. Your line is open. David.

Hi, Doug Wardlaw on for David. I guess further kind of hammering into The Walking Dead deal. Like, can you just give a little bit more perspective on, you know, why this was the right structure? You know, how long you've been thinking about co-exclusive rights and then given that it is co-exclusive, what impact do you expect to AMC plus engagement from having the full content universe? There?

I will say on the on the AMC plus side and then Kim really led the negotiations. So I'll let her speak a little bit to your prior question. You know, the the overall engagement that we're seeing on our streaming services is really giving us,, you know, a lot of optimism here for ,. You know, the value of streaming and the way that we present it. And so for, for AMC plus in particular, that is a destination for our core fan base. And so the exclusivity regarding Netflix, I think,, we feel really positive that it is going to increase ,, and build on the increasing engagement that we're already seeing for AMC plus and our other services. But, you know, people do associate this IP very specifically with AMC. So I think it can cohabitate quite nicely on AMC plus and on Netflix and do really good work for both streaming services, which is why we're so enthusiastic about this deal. Anything you want to add, Kim.

Yeah, sure. Doug., you know, as we've mentioned on past quarterly calls, we've worked for years to align the rights., around this valuable franchise ahead of this deal with the goal of generating the best economic outcome possible with the right partner, which we think we've accomplished with Netflix ., I think that, you know, that that took a lot of work over the years to align all of our international rights, etc.. So we're, we're excited at the outcome of that and to what Kristin said, I think that this Co-exclusive arrangement allows us to bring the original Walking Dead series back to AMC plus for the first time. And we're really excited about that. Our fans are really excited about that, and I think we will. We will see the results as it as it reverts to the to the platform in January.

Thanks. Let's go to the next question. Operator. Oh, sorry. Your follow up. Go ahead. Doug.

Sorry. No problem., then just I guess a little bit separately. You know, you recently leaned in to, you know, live sports and sports adjacent content between wrestling and some sports docu series., I'm curious on how engagement has looked for those properties. And, you know, as sports rights and shoulder programming associated with them, you know, continue to drive .. Programming industry wide, like how much further do you anticipate the company pushing into this space?.

That's a great question. You know, the live sports program, we've been really pleasantly surprised. I keep saying that on this call, but there's been a lot of good things coming out of the quarter with the performance of TNA. And you know, we talked a lot before we launched that content. Does it fit into our strategy for AMC and wrestling? It really is story driven, character driven content, which is why we thought it would align nicely with what AMC, the linear channel represents. And then what the other, you know, the other benefit of having wrestling on is it does tie quite nicely to the audiences for some of our other content. So skewing younger male ., but a lot of women also watch wrestling. So the wrestling thing has been great for us ., and then, you know, I'll let Dan speak to the further ideas that he has, but I will say, as we commented last year, rise of the 40 Niners was another big bright spot for us. And the programming. Category. And we have another sort of episode in that in that docu series called The Rise of the Saints, which speaks to what happened in New Orleans post with with the New Orleans Saints.

So. Dan, anything else on sports?

Just same thing. You know, I mean, just I as we see sports, live sports continue to engage the audience., we can be a real provider of sports adjacent content that can service that audience, which has demonstrated a real affinity for,, for, for all this kind of content. So we're very much in this business, not only with our rise of franchise, but our cursed franchise that we announced,, about six weeks ago., and other sports adjacent content that we have in the works.

It is worth noting Doug that in our central Northern Europe group, where we have about 250 employees in Budapest, we actually operate the number one. And number two sports channels. In Romania, Slovakia, Hungary, and the former Czech Republic. So we do a significant amount of live sports programming internationally., but, you know, in the US, I think our focus continues to be scripted dramas and intriguing unscripted with supplemental, as you said, shoulder programming that still sticks to our regular genre. Like you won't see us going out and trying to license games or anything like that. That's, that's not where we're going. But as great storytellers in the US and in some of our other territories, it's been beneficial for us to tell stories about some of these characters and teams as well.

Thanks, Doug. Let's let's go to the next question. Operator.

Thank you. Our next question comes from the line of Stephen Kahal of Wells Fargo. Your line is open. Stephen.

Thank you. Good morning. And I joined the call late, so I apologize if some of this has already been answered, but I was just wondering if you could talk through the sort of radical recognition. I think you're going to have for the Walking Dead. So ,, if I understand it correctly, you'll have a couple hundred million in 26, and 27 as revenue. How should we think about the A? Oh, I contribution in those years? And also the ROI contribution after those years, given the cash profile that you laid out., and with the guidance that you're changing for 26,, I'm just wondering what the underlying ex walking dead changes to guidance versus how much of it is from the new transaction. Thank you.

Thank you. Thanks, Steven. So on the revenue recognition, it's not out of the ordinary. It's standard procedure. We're going to recognize 200 to 225 million of the revenue in year 26, and also in 27. that is driven by ASC 606 revenue recognition rules, which require revenue to be recorded at the present value