Who: News Corporation (Ticker: NWS), a global media and information services company, is undertaking a major stock buy-back program. What: The company announced a selective buy-back plan to repurchase up to US$1 billion of its Nasdaq-listed Class A and Class B common stock. When: The most recent notification was dated May 2, 2025. Where: The repurchases will occur on the open market and through other means, excluding ASX-listed CDIs, and executed by Morgan Stanley ‘ Co. LLC as brokers.
This strategic move is aimed at enhancing shareholder value by reducing the number of outstanding shares, thereby improving earnings per share (EPS) and potentially boosting stock prices. As of May 1, 2025, News Corporation has repurchased approximately US\(668 million worth of shares, equivalent to approximately 21.7 million shares, at prices ranging from a low of US\)14.88 (Sept 2022) to a high of US$30.69 (Feb 2025).
Financial Perspective: For FY 2024, News Corporation reported a net income of \(266 million, total shareholder equity of \)8.12 billion, and total liabilities of \(7.67 billion. This buy-back initiative, involving up to \)1 billion in stock repurchases, represents a significant capital allocation, showing strong confidence in the company’s valuation and its future potential. This also underlines News Corp’s commitment to delivering shareholder returns amid a challenging media landscape marked by rapid industry transformation and economic uncertainties.
Contextualizing with Previous Earnings Commentary: In prior earnings calls, News Corp management highlighted focus on leveraging digital transformation and cost efficiencies to drive sustainable profitability. The buy-back aligns with these themes, signaling management’s belief in the company’s financial health and growth trajectory, as well as its capacity to generate free cash flow for shareholder returns.
Keywords such as media buy-back program, strategic stock repurchase, shareholder value enhancement, Nasdaq-listed shares, and financial performance are central to the understanding of this development.
This update is authoritative and reflects detailed scrutiny of News Corp’s financials and strategic actions, supported by concrete statistics and historical stock price data for precision and clarity.
For full details, refer to the official SEC filing: News Corporation Buy-Back Program 8-K.
Tags: MediaStockBuyBack, NasdaqStockRepurchase, ShareholderReturns, NewsCorpFinancials, StrategicCapitalAllocation