Media companies’ quarterly earnings are expected to have gained traction from solid demand for online content and a high-speed Internet service amid the coronavirus crisis.

This was evident from Netflix’s robust first-quarter 2020 results, which rode on strong subscriber growth as people in large numbers were forced to stay home due to the coronavirus-triggered lockdown and social-isolation measures. The streaming giant added 15.77 million paid subscribers globally, which surged 64.3% year over year.

Moreover, soaring demand for broadband service benefited Comcast and Charter Communications.

Comcast added 477K High-Speed Internet Customers to its profile in the first quarter while Charter gained 563K users.

However, the economic impact of the plaguing pandemic, which dried up job opportunities in the market, is expected to have induced more cord-cutting only to affect Pay-TV services from AT&T, Comcast and Charter.

In the first quarter, AT&T saw an attrition of 897K premium video clients while Comcast witnessed a departure of 409K video customers. Charter lost 70K video customers in the same period.

Moreover, advertising revenues are expected to have been drained by lower ad demand due to coronavirus, partially offset by higher political ad spending.

Insight Into Major Releases

Investors interested in the media sector are eagerly awaiting the upcoming earnings releases of industry players, namely Discovery , Fox (FOXA Quick QuoteFOXA - Free Report) , Roku (ROKU Quick QuoteROKU - Free Report) , TEGNA (TGNA Quick QuoteTGNA - Free Report) and ViacomCBS .

Discovery’s first-quarter 2020 results, scheduled to be reported on May 6, are expected to reflect weakness in ad demand and spending due to the coronavirus outbreak. The company generates more than 55% of its revenues from advertising.

Nevertheless, viewership is expected to have jumped as people are increasingly confined to their homes amid the coronavirus-led lockdowns and strictly obeying the shelter-in-place guidelines. (Read More: Discovery to Report Q1 Earnings: What's in Store?)

Moreover, Discovery has the favorable combination of a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) and an Earnings ESP of +1.24%. You can uncover the best stocks to buy or sell before they’re reported with our Earnings ESP Filter.

Per the Zacks model, the combination of a positive Earnings ESP and a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), 2 (Buy) or 3 increases the odds of an earnings beat. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Notably, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for the company’s first-quarter earnings has moved 1.1% south to 87 cents per share over the past 30 days.
 

Fox’s third-quarter fiscal 2020 results, set to release on May 6, are expected to reflect the negative impact of the coronavirus. Softness in ad demand and spending is anticipated to have hurt advertising revenues, which accounts for more than 50% of the company’s top line. (Read More: Fox Corp. to Report Q3 Earnings: What's in the Cards?)

Moreover, Fox has an unfavorable combination of a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell) and an Earnings ESP of +0.83%.

Further, the consensus mark for earnings in the fiscal third quarter has been revised a penny downward to 72 cents per share over the past 30 days.
 

Roku’s combination of a Zacks Rank #2 and an Earnings ESP of -6.27% dims possibilities of a beat. The company is set to report first-quarter 2020 results on May 7.

Roku reported solid preliminary first-quarter results. Revenues are anticipated to be slightly higher than its earlier guided range of $300-$310 million. The company estimates growth in active accounts and viewership amid the coronavirus outbreak that prompted more and more people to stay home.

Moreover, growth in streaming hours is expected to have boosted TV streaming advertising on Roku’s platform. The rising popularity of The Roku Channel is expected to have attracted advertisers in the to-be reported quarter.

However, the consensus mark for first-quarter loss has widened a penny to 45 cents per share over the past 30 days.
 

Meanwhile, TEGNA's first-quarter 2020 results are likely to reflect gains from a stable subscriber base, higher retransmission rates and accretive acquisitions amid the pandemic situation.

However, restrained advertising spending due to the coronavirus outbreak is expected to have hit Advertising & Marketing services, which accounts for more than 55% of TEGNA’s revenues. (Read More: TEGNA to Report Q1 Earnings: What's in the Cards?)

Moreover, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for earnings has been revised a penny downward to 37 cents per share over the past 30 days.
 

ViacomCBS also has an imperfect combination of a Zacks Rank of 4 and an Earnings ESP of -9.42%. The company is set to report first-quarter 2020 results on May 7.

Alike its peers, ViacomCBS’ quarterly results are expected to reflect the negative impact of cautious ad spending due to the coronavirus outbreak. Notably, advertising revenues contributed to 44.1% of total revenues in the fourth quarter of 2019. (Read More: ViacomCBS to Report Q1 Earnings: What's in the Cards?)
 

Nevertheless, a solid portfolio of streaming services (both advertising and subscription-based offerings) l CBS All Access, Showtime OTT, Pluto TV, Noggin and BET+ is expected to have benefited the top line owing to augmented viewership amid lockdowns and an implemerntation of shelter-in-place guidelines.


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