iHeartMedia (NASDAQ:IHRT) Posts Quarterly Earnings Results

iHeartMedia (NASDAQ:IHRT) issued its earnings results on Monday. The company reported ($0.61) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.49) by ($0.12), FiscalAI reports. iHeartMedia had a negative return on equity of 1.63% and a negative net margin of 12.24%.The firm had revenue of $884.20 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $871.50 million.

Here are the key takeaways from iHeartMedia’s conference call:

• Consolidated revenue was $884 million, up 9.6% year?over?year, but Adjusted EBITDA was $93 million, slightly below guidance due to timing of non?cash marketing expenses and March advertising softness related to macro/geo events.
• Management announced an additional $50 million of annualized cost savings beginning in H2 (on top of a prior $100M) and expects cash taxes to be effectively eliminated for 2026–2028, preserving roughly $150M–$200M of cash.
• The Digital Audio Group delivered strong growth with revenue up 18% to $327 million and podcast revenue of $147 million (up 26.9%), with podcasting margins accretive and the company positioning itself as the #1 podcast publisher and sales network.
• Multiplatform Group revenue rose 4.3% to $493 million but Adjusted EBITDA declined to $47 million from $70 million; management is focusing on programmatic, integrated sales, and bundling to return MPG to EBITDA growth and targets about $200 million of programmatic revenue in 2026.
• Q1 free cash flow was negative $114 million and net debt was approximately $4.7 billion (net leverage ~6.9x), yet the company reaffirmed full?year guidance of $800M Adjusted EBITDA and $200M free cash flow and expects net leverage in the mid?5s by year?end.

iHeartMedia Trading Down 3.3%

IHRT opened at $5.49 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $827.01 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -1.79, a PEG ratio of 54.46 and a beta of 2.33. iHeartMedia has a 12 month low of $1.11 and a 12 month high of $6.56. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $3.70 and a 200-day moving average price of $3.78.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of iHeartMedia in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $4.25.

Insider Activity at iHeartMedia

In related news, CEO Robert W. Pittman purchased 32,468 shares of iHeartMedia stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 5th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $3.25 per share, with a total value of $105,521.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 6,214,937 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,198,545.25. The trade was a 0.53% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 10.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in IHRT. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of iHeartMedia by 99.8% in the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,214,301 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,654,000 after acquiring an additional 1,105,976 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its position in iHeartMedia by 22.8% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 2,872,316 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,739,000 after buying an additional 532,414 shares in the last quarter. Strs Ohio acquired a new position in iHeartMedia during the 1st quarter valued at about $186,000. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in iHeartMedia by 7.1% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,822,306 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,968,000 after buying an additional 186,402 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rhumbline Advisers increased its position in iHeartMedia by 7.1% during the 2nd quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 168,006 shares of the company’s stock valued at $296,000 after buying an additional 11,101 shares in the last quarter. 93.89% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About iHeartMedia

iHeartMedia, Inc (NASDAQ: IHRT) is a leading media and entertainment company specializing in radio broadcasting, digital streaming and live events. The company operates more than 860 full-power AM and FM radio stations across the United States, delivering music, news, sports and talk programming to local markets. Through its flagship digital platform, iHeartRadio, the company provides listeners with free and subscription-based access to thousands of live radio stations, curated music playlists and on-demand podcasts.

Originally founded in 1972 as Clear Channel Communications, the business rebranded to iHeartMedia in 2014 to reflect the growing importance of its digital and event-driven offerings.