Nexstar Media Group vs Warner Bros. Discovery
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The short version
- Warner Bros. Discovery is the larger business, with $37.3B of revenue in fiscal 2025 against $4.9B for Nexstar Media Group, about 7.5 times as much.
- Warner Bros. Discovery grew revenue faster (−5.2%, against −8.5%).
- Nexstar Media Group kept more of each dollar of sales as operating profit (17.2% operating margin, against 2.0%).
- Nexstar Media Group turned more of its sales into free cash flow (15.0% FCF margin, against 8.3%).
- Nexstar Media Group earned a higher return on the capital invested in it (5.6%, against 0.6%).
| Latest fiscal year | NXST · FY25 | WBD · FY25 |
|---|---|---|
| Size | ||
| Market cap | $5.2B | $79.7B |
| Revenue | $4.9B | $37.3B |
| Free cash flow | $743M | $3.1B |
| Net income | $109M | $727M |
| Growth | ||
| Revenue growth | −8.5% | −5.2% |
| 5-year growth | 1.9% | 28.4% |
| Share count change | −6.4% | 3.3% |
| Profitability | ||
| Gross margin | — | — |
| Operating margin | 17.2% | 2.0% |
| Net margin | 2.2% | 2.0% |
| FCF margin | 15.0% | 8.3% |
| Return on capital | 5.6% | 0.6% |
| Return on equity | 5.1% | 2.1% |
| Balance sheet | ||
| Net debt | $6.1B | $28.7B |
| Net debt / EBITDA | 4.6x | 4.5x |
| Dividends and buybacks | $351M | $0.0M |
| Valuation & quality | ||
| P/E | 31.8x | — |
| Piotroski F-score | 5 | 7 |
Revenue
FY16
NXST $1.1B
WBD $6.5B
FY17
NXST $2.4B
WBD $6.9B
FY18
NXST $2.8B
WBD $10.6B
FY19
NXST $3.0B
WBD $11.1B
FY20
NXST $4.5B
WBD $10.7B
FY21
NXST $4.6B
WBD $12.2B
FY22
NXST $5.2B
WBD $33.8B
FY23
NXST $4.9B
WBD $41.3B
FY24
NXST $5.4B
WBD $39.3B
FY25
NXST $4.9B
WBD $37.3B
NXST
WBD
Operating margin
FY16
NXST 26.0%
WBD 31.7%
FY17
NXST 20.8%
WBD 10.4%
FY18
NXST 27.4%
WBD 18.3%
FY19
NXST 21.6%
WBD 27.0%
FY20
NXST 30.6%
WBD 23.6%
FY21
NXST 25.3%
WBD 16.5%
FY22
NXST 25.2%
WBD −21.8%
FY23
NXST 14.4%
WBD −3.8%
FY24
NXST 23.5%
WBD −25.5%
FY25
NXST 17.2%
WBD 2.0%
NXST
WBD
Free cash flow
FY16
NXST $252M
WBD $1.3B
FY17
NXST $36.6M
WBD $1.5B
FY18
NXST $631M
WBD $2.4B
FY19
NXST $220M
WBD $3.1B
FY20
NXST $1.0B
WBD $2.3B
FY21
NXST $1.1B
WBD $2.4B
FY22
NXST $1.2B
WBD $3.3B
FY23
NXST $850M
WBD $6.2B
FY24
NXST $1.1B
WBD $4.4B
FY25
NXST $743M
WBD $3.1B
NXST
WBD
Return on capital
FY16
NXST 7.7%
WBD 11.7%
FY17
NXST 12.1%
WBD 4.5%
FY18
NXST 9.6%
WBD 6.8%
FY19
NXST 5.2%
WBD 11.3%
FY20
NXST 9.9%
WBD 7.7%
FY21
NXST 8.9%
WBD 6.8%
FY22
NXST 10.4%
WBD −9.9%
FY23
NXST 5.1%
WBD −1.4%
FY24
NXST 10.2%
WBD −10.2%
FY25
NXST 5.6%
WBD 0.6%
NXST
WBD
Each company's latest fiscal year; fiscal years end in different months. The best value in each row is highlighted where higher (or lower) is clearly better. Not investment advice.