Lionsgate Studios saw revenue jump 18% to $724 million with operating income at $85 million, well above Wall Street forecasts, in a solid FY26 third quarter. The company’s fiscal year ends in March.
Motion Picture revenue of $421 million grew by 35% year-over-year driven by the releases of The Housemaid and Now You See Me: Now You Don’t.
The Housemaid came out December 19 so had just 12 days of domestic box office reflected in Q3 with most of the contribution hitting in the current fourth quarter and into fiscal 2027. Film segment profit of $58.5 million was squeezed by significantly higher P&A spend, which also contributed to a doubling Lionsgate’s net loss from the year before to about $44 million for the three months ended in September. The thriller starring Sydney Sweeney and Amanda Seyfried has grossed $266 million worldwide.
Upcoming tentpoles include Michael in April, The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping in November and Resurrection of the Christ: Parts One and Two next March and May, respectively. Sequel The Housemaid’s Secret, John Rambo, Dirty Dancing, Caine, the next film from the John Wick franchise, Naruto, American Psycho and new installments of Saw and Blair Witch are all either in production, being readied for production or in fast-track development. The studio released a full trailer for Michael this week and is ramping up for an April 27 global rollout.
Television Production revenue of $303 million and segment profit of $55.7 million both declined from the year earlier period due to the timing of episodic deliveries — like The Studio a year earlier — partially offset by strength in TV library revenue. The Television Group has secured renewals for 12 of its 13 current scripted series, including The Studio (Apple TV), The Hunting Wives (Netflix) and The Rainmaker (USA Network), which are spread across 12 different buyers. Robin Hood has ranked number one on MGM+ for nine weeks in a row. The Rookie is having its eighth season on ABC with The Rookie: North spinoff pilot starting shooting in Vancouver later this month. Spartacus: House of Ashur is one of the best-reviewed series on Starz.
Trailing 12-month total library revenue rose 10% from the prior year to a record $1.05 billion, marking the 5th consecutive quarter of record library revenue.
“I’m pleased to report a quarter that keeps us on track for our fiscal 2026 financial targets and positions us for significant growth in fiscal 2027 and beyond,” said CEO Jon Feltheimer. “Our investment in our IP portfolio is achieving its intended results: our film and television pipelines are strong, our library continues to grow, and our extension of franchise properties across multiple platforms continues to increase.”
Lionsgate stock, which has been on a bit of a tear over the past six months amid media merger mania, popped on the numbers, trading up 2% at $8.98. As Seaport analyst David Joyce put it, the battle for Warner Bros Discovery “should create a second-level demand for scale by the remaining players in the industry.”
Pressed about M&A on a post-earnings call, vice chair Michael Burns said we’re in a moment when “world class IP has never been more valuable and you are seeing the validation of premium content
in the headlines every day as Netflix and Paramount spar over who would be a better partners for Warner Bros. Discovery. WBD has a deal in place with the giant streamer but David Ellison’s company remains in aggressive pursuit. “We don’t know who is giong to end up with it, but we do believe that is the first domino to fall.”
Lionsgate has had a shareholders rights plan in place, which discourages hostile takeovers by making it more expensive for outside parties to amass big stakes in a company. It is allowing that mechanism, also called a poison pill, to expire in May. “Although there are many disruptive forces reshaping our industry – the rise of AI, the power of social platforms and the increased tempo of M&A, to name just a few – we believe that we are prepared to adapt to all of them as a dynamic, agile and entrepreneurial company positioned for sustainable growth,” Feltheimer said
Lionsgate, which recently split from Starz, has also converted its dual share structure into a single class of stock. And it recently adding former U.S. Treasury Secretary and major shareholder Steven Mnuchin to its board.
English (US) ·