Versant Media Group Stock (NASDAQ:VSNT) Gains After New Results Emerge

Recently, media spinoff stock Versant Media Group VSNT +1.25% ▲ offered up its first-ever earnings report, and with that report also brought out a look at some of its future plans. Some may have thought this foray into linear channels a doomed exercise from the outset. But give Versant credit—it will at least go down swinging. Versant shares gained fractionally in Friday morning’s trading.

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The numbers were not particularly surprising, as the newly-orphaned collection of cable channels struggled to make good after being cut off from the larger Comcast CMCSA -0.13% ▼ ecosystem. 2025 net income dropped 32%, hitting $930 million, along with a 5.4% drop in revenue, which brought that total to $7 billion. This is, of course, still not bad by any stretch of the imagination in objective terms.

Further, Versant noted that NBCUniversal would continue to represent Versant in advertising for the next two years minimum. Versant noted, “…they and we will decide on the right future strategy for our ad sales.” In what may have been an even better stroke for investors, Versant not only announced a quarterly dividend of $0.375 per share, but also announced plans for a $1 billion share buyback plan.

The Future Soon

But what does Versant have up its sleeve for the future? A surprisingly large quantity of options awaits, based on reports from the spinoff. Versant wants to bring out a subscription platform for MS NOW—formerly MSNBC—a CNBC subscription arm, and an advertising-based video on demand (AVOD) service through Fandango.

Sports, however, might be Versant’s quiet winner. The current set of NFL contracts were already set up as far back as 2021, but an opt-out clause that the NFL added could be activated in 2030. With the NFL expected to hike costs in that time, Versant is looking for the current rights holders to reconsider and launch “…a rebalancing of sports portfolios” that will ultimately open up a hole for Versant to enter and stake a claim.

Is Versant Media Group a Good Stock to Buy Now?

Turning to Wall Street, analysts have a Hold consensus rating on VSNT stock based on one Buy, three Holds and one Sell assigned in the past three months, as indicated by the graphic below. After a 19.45% loss in its share price over the past year, the average VSNT price target of $36.62 per share implies 1.49% downside risk.

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