Editor’s Note: TheStreet’s parent company is The Arena Group, an innovative media and technology company that is home to many of the most iconic and passionate media brands, including TheStreet, Parade, Men’s Journal and Athlon Sports. In the interest of our loyal audience here at TheStreet, we wanted to share our parent company’s latest financial results so you can have transparency in our media business. Read excerpts from today’s press release below.
The Arena Group Holdings (AREN), parent company of TheStreet, Parade, Men’s Journal and other publications, on Nov. 13 posted a profitable third quarter.
The company reported net Income of $6.9 million, up 72% from a year earlier. Revenue totaled $29.8 million, compared with $33.6 million a year ago, while gross margin remained above 50%.
Net margin improved to 23.2% and EBITDA margin to 39.9%, up from 11.9% and 33.3% a year earlier.
The third quarter of 2024 included a one-time $3 million impact from a licensing agreement.
“Despite persistent audience volatility across the industry, we delivered another highly profitable quarter,” Paul Edmondson, CEO of The Arena Group, said in a statement.
TheStreet
The Arena Group owns such brands as TheStreet and Parade.
TheStreet’s traffic jumps 20%
“Our diversified model and variable cost structure continue to prove resilient, allowing us to drive margin expansion, generate cash, and grow net income even when traffic fluctuates. Profitability is no longer episodic – it’s becoming consistent and repeatable.”TheStreet significantly grew its audience reach in the third quarter, the company said, with on-site traffic up 20% from a year ago, and revenue from content syndication efforts up 200% over the same period.
Parade’s traffic was up 25% from a year ago. Non-advertising revenue, which includes performance marketing and syndication efforts, more than doubled compared with the year ago quarter.
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Non-advertising revenue grew nearly 200% for brands like Athlon Sports and Men’s Journal, led mainly by off-property distribution and syndication.
Total pageviews to commerce content grew 82% in the quarter from a year earlier.
Trailing 12-month income from continuing operations of $30.5 million, divided by 47.6 million shares outstanding as of Sept. 30, equates to earnings of 64 cents per share.
That represents a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.2x based on the share price of $5.47 as of NYSE American Market close on Nov. 10.
Arena CEO touts intelligence platform
The Arena Group’s stock is up 237% this year and has surged 606% from this time in 2024.Reflecting what the company called a “disciplined” M&A strategy, The Arena Group in October acquired the digital assets and IP of ShopHQ and Lindy’s Sports. The company funded these transactions with cash on hand.
Related: The Arena Group reports second-quarter earnings
The acquisitions expand the company’s ecommerce and sports portfolios, deepening its brand ecosystem and adding new monetization opportunities.
“Our Entrepreneurial Publishing model continues to scale efficiently – allowing us to grow without the heavy fixed costs of traditional media,” Edmondson said. “We’re now extending that model into video and social selling/commerce, while accelerating our evolution into a data, AI, and ecommerce-driven business.”
“With more than 40,000 new users registering every day, our new intelligence platform, Encore, will connect user behavior across ads, newsletters, and content to the most valuable actions,” he continued.
“This will allow us to curate high-intent audiences for advertisers and turn engagement into measurable, recurring value for our partners and our business.”