News Corp Reports Q2 Revenue of $2.36B

Reports Q2 revenue $2.36B, consensus $2.3B. Commenting on the results, Chief Executive Robert Thomson said: "We are delighted to report excellent second quarter results with both revenue and profitability growth accelerating from the prior quarter, and we see favorable signs for the second half of our fiscal year. Revenues increased 6 percent to $2.4 billion for the quarter and profitability improved by a robust 9%. The second quarter results were driven by sustained growth at Dow Jones and Digital Real Estate Services, which both achieved double-digit profit growth and have started the calendar year strongly. Given the current trajectory of our core drivers, we believe prospects for the third quarter are auspicious. Dow Jones, an information services powerhouse with unique IP, delivered 8% revenue growth, accelerating from the first quarter, including 20% growth at Risk and Compliance. There were record digital advertising revenues, and record Segment EBITDA margins at nearly 30%. To highlight the vast potential of Dow Jones, we will be hosting an investor briefing next month in New York. It is clear that expectations of AI's impact are continuing to evolve and that the more perceptive players have come to realize that provenance is paramount. What is the point of acquiring cutting-edge semiconductors if they are being deployed to repurpose gormless, factless, feckless content sets? We do believe an increasing number of insightful companies understand this content contradiction and will indeed pay a premium for our premium content. This quarter we expanded our partnership with Bloomberg to include AI rights for our unique Dow Jones content and are progressing with other negotiations. We also continued to actively execute on our expanded buyback program, which has been running at over four times the prior rate, reflecting our confidence in News Corp's strong cash position and belief in the intrinsic value of the Company."