Versant In Transition As It Diversifies Business With Strategy Taking Shape In Q2, Stock Pops

2 weeks ago 15

Versant saw revenue and profit dip as it retools its assets base in a transitional June quarter that included the divestiture of SportsEngine and the acquisition of interactive sports business Full Swing to bolster its Golf offerings. It’s transitioning ticketing app Fandago to an AVOD service and preparing digital launches and products around MS NOW and CNBC.

The stock popped after the latest numbers, up 7% in premarket trading.

In and following the second quarter, Versant also completed multi-year renewals with two large distribution partners, one in the U.S. and one in Canada and announced a five-year Bundesliga agreement.

The company that was recently spun out from Comcast is moving towards an ultimate goal of a 50-50 split between pay-TV and other businesses.

Overall flat advertising reflected an improvement and Versant saw solid engagement at key television properties led by MS NOW and CBNC.

“Versant’s brands once again demonstrated strength, durability and scale, reaching more than 120 million viewers each month during the quarter while reinforcing our leadership across news, sports and entertainment,” CEP Mark Lazarus said. “At the same time, we continued executing our strategy by investing in opportunities that will drive our next phase of growth.”

Total revenue dipped 3.8% to $1.6 billion with a dip in linear distribution, its biggest business, to $954 million with subscriber declines partly offset by contractual rate increases.

Platforms revenue was up 9% (ex SportsEngine, which ad revenue of $13 million and $30 million, respectively, for Q2 2026 and 2025).

Adjusted income fell 8.9% to $624 million. Net profit dipped 30% to $211 billion

The company raised its 2026 outlook for total revenue and Adjusted EBITDA and maintained.

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