Look For Lions Gate's 'Warm' Streak To Continue In Its Pending Q3 Results

David Miller of Loop Capital expects the “warm” streak to continue for Lions Gate Entertainment Corporation Class A Voting Shares LGF as the media firm reports its third-quarter results on February 8.

Earnings Expectations

Miller expects $0.11 in EPS and $675 million in revenues versus consensus estimate of $0.16/$725.3 million. Unlike some brokers, Miller doesn’t include the three weeks of Starz revenue in his third quarter estimate.

“We actually don't believe LGF will express its numbers that way and our projections are for LGF's stand-alone business only,” Miller wrote in a note.

The key drivers of the results would be theatrical net rentals from Deepwater Horizon, Patriots Day and Hacksaw Ridge. On the TV front, among others, Greenleaf, Casual, Nashville and Family Feud would be the primary contributors.

Analyst's Commentary, Estimations

For the fourth quarter, Miller raised his estimates on the enormous public response for "La La Land," which dominated the Golden Globe awards, and nominated for Oscar in 14 categories. The analyst projects the movie to have a DBO run at $115.0 million before the quarter ends.

As such, Miller upped his EPS view to $0.52 and revenue forecast to $1.25 billion from $0.47/$1.22 billion. These estimates include full quarter of Starz operations.

Miller maintains his Buy rating on the shares, with a price target of $31.

At last check, Lions Gate’s Class A shares had fallen 1.46 percent to $28.35.