Versant Raises Guidance and the Dead After Blowout Earnings (Cord Cutters? Never Heard of ‘Em)

"Reports of my death have been greatly exaggerated." — the cable bundle, apparently

God's still got jokes, folks. The pile of pay TV channels Comcast left on a doorstep back in January, the business model every analyst in America has already eulogized, is being run by a man literally named Mark Lazarus. And on Thursday, right on brand, the left-for-dead thing sat up and started walking. Versant (read: CNBC, USA Network, Syfy, Golf Channel, E!, plus digital toys like Fandango and GolfNow) beat Wall Street on the top and bottom lines, raised its full-year outlook, and watched shares moooon 13%.

The receipts are as follows: $1.49 in earnings per share against the $1.35 the Street expected, on $1.64 billion in revenue. Management now sees 2026 revenue of $6.2 billion to $6.45 billion and adjusted EBITDA of $1.9 billion to $2.05 billion… both raised. Friendly reminder, this is only Versant's third earnings report as a public company, and it's already snappin’ necks and cashin’ checks. 

However, before anyone plans the parade, total revenue still fell 3.8% from a year ago. Linear TV which is more than 80% of the business… dropped 6.3% to $954 million as subscribers keep bailing for streaming. Net income cratered 30% to $211 million, though most of that is the cost of being newly single: public-company expenses, interest on the separation debt, and a tax hit from selling SportsEngine (who knew divorce was expensive?). Compare apples to apples with the pre-spinoff numbers and profit was actually up 3%. Translation: Wall Street set the bar in the basement, and Versant stepped over it with dolla bills to spare. 

So why the mooning? Advertising that’s why. This has been an industry-wide sh*tshow for years… was down just 0.6%, which in cable land counts as a growth story, because live news and sports still drag actual humans to actual TVs at actual air times. Linear TV in 2026 is basically Jimothy the raccoon… structurally compromised and completely unbothered.

Which is why Lazarus wants half the company's revenue coming from outside cable eventually, and the man is shopping like it. Platforms revenue (Fandango tickets, GolfNow tee times) grew 9.3% excluding the SportsEngine sale. This week he closed the purchase of golf-sim maker Full Swing (the diversification is literally in full swing), stacking it on top of GolfNow and GolfPass. Earlier this year came StockStory, an AI platform that generates stock picks for CNBC (Sup, Jim Cramer). 

Meanwhile, the capital returns are feral with a 37.5-cent dividend for the third straight quarter, a completed $100 million buyback, another $100 million teed up for tomorrow, and roughly $800 million of authorization still in the drawer. “Oh so, cable is back?” Wrongo.

The ice cube is still melting… cord-cutters aren't coming back, and 80% of this company still lives in that world. But the spinoff thesis was that Versant would slowly bleed out while Comcast kept the good stuff. Instead the corpse is raising guidance, buying golf simulators, and cutting dividend checks… while Comcast, apparently jealous of its own ex, is now shoving NBCUniversal and Sky out the door too.

Regardless, the man’s name is Lazarus. What did you think was going to happen? Until next time, friends. 

At the time of publishing, Stocks.News does not hold positions in companies mentioned in the article.