Scripps hits three-month low amid earnings miss, light revenue guidance

E.W. Scripps (NASDAQ:SSP) tumbled 13.5% Friday - hitting its lowest point since its last earnings report - following a fourth-quarter earnings where it missed on top and bottom lines.

That marks its worst single-day decline since Nov. 8, when it fell 14.6%. The stock tumbled another 10.1% on Nov. 9, reactions to the third-quarter miss.

This time out, revenues grew more than 9% to $680.9M but narrowly missed expectations. Income did somewhat better, as operating expenses rose just 3.7% - and operating income jumped to $164.1M from a year-ago $123.6M.

Attributable net income rose accordingly, to $73M from a year-ago $40.2M.

The company started the new year with a plan to reorganize.

"Since the beginning of this year, Scripps has been engaged in examining the best ways to structure our company so that we are well-positioned to capture the opportunities we see emerging in our industry," said Adam Symson, president and CEO. "We see those in three key growth areas: the content categories of news, sports and entertainment; TV distribution platforms; and the burgeoning marketplace enabled by ATSC 3.0."

Revenue by segment: Local Media, $433M (up 24%); Scripps Networks, $248M (down 9.2%).

Profit by segment: Local Media, $152M (up from $82.2M); Scripps Networks, $80M (down from $106M).

Cash and equivalents at year-end were $18M, with total debt of $2.9B.

For the first quarter, the company guided to Local Media revenues down in the mid-single-digit percent range; and Scripps Networks revenues declining in the high single digits. Local Media expenses are expected to be flat while Scripps Networks expenses are set to rise in the high single digits.

For more detail, dig into Seeking Alpha's transcript of Scripps' earnings call.