The Q2 report, combined with raised guidance, confirms that the restructuring—though hitting GAAP earnings hard—is clearing the path to sustainable profitability. The stock likely re-rates on the improving leverage trend (2.9x, heading toward 2.7x) and cash flow trajectory. Monitor the investor call at 8:00 AM ET today for details on OTT subscriber trends and the specific progress against the 20% OIBDA margin target. The next key catalyst is the Q3 2026 report to see if OTT revenue growth accelerates and leverage continues to fall.
Price Chart
Executive Summary
STARZ delivered Q2 2026 revenue of $307.9M (roughly in line with the $306.8M street estimate for the prior quarter), with OTT revenue growing slightly YoY to $221.3M, and raised its 2026 Adjusted OIBDA growth outlook from low-single-digits to mid-single-digits while narrowing its unlevered free cash flow outlook to the mid-to-upper end of the $80M-$120M range. The company also reduced its trailing twelve-month Adjusted OIBDA leverage ratio to 2.9x, down from 3.1x last quarter, and reiterated the year-end 2.7x target and 20% Adjusted OIBDA margin target for the second half of 2027. While headline GAAP net loss widened to $(189.4)M ($(11.27)/share) driven by a large $151.2M restructuring charge (mostly contract termination fees), the underlying business trends—OTT revenue growth, deleveraging, and improved profitability outlook—are meaningfully positive and reinforce the inflection narrative highlighted in prior filings.
Key Financial Metrics
Key Facts
- Q2 2026 total revenue was $307.9M vs $319.7M in the year-ago quarter; OTT revenue grew slightly to $221.3M from $221.1M.
- Raised 2026 Adjusted OIBDA growth outlook from low-single-digits to mid-single-digits.
- Raised 2026 Unlevered Free Cash Flow outlook from $80M-$120M to the mid-to-upper end of that range.
- Trailing twelve-month Adjusted OIBDA was $195.2M, up sequentially from $168.7M at Q1 2026.
- Net debt declined to $565.5M from $589.4M at year-end 2025; Adjusted OIBDA leverage ratio improved to 2.9x from 3.1x at Q1 2026.
- GAAP operating loss was $(175.5)M, largely driven by a $151.2M restructuring charge including $147.2M in contract termination fees.
- Adjusted OIBDA (the company's key non-GAAP metric) was $59.9M, up from $33.4M in the year-ago quarter and up sequentially from $58.0M in Q1 2026.
- Q2 GAAP EPS was $(11.27) vs $(2.54) in Q2 2025; Street-convention EPS (as reflected in Nasdaq reference) was not explicitly reported in this Q2 release.
- The $150M revolving credit facility remained fully undrawn.
- Management reiterated 20% Adjusted OIBDA margin target for the second half of 2027 and year-end 2026 leverage target of 2.7x.
Financial Impact
Revenue flat-ish at ~$308M but underlying profitability metrics (Adjusted OIBDA, leverage, cash flow guidance) all improved meaningfully. The restructuring charge is non-recurring and expected to accelerate the margin expansion timeline.
Risk Factors
- Linear and other revenue continues to decline (down to $86.6M from $98.6M YoY), reflecting structural industry headwinds in traditional pay TV.
- GAAP EPS remains deeply negative; the Street may not look past the $(11.27) headline loss.
- The $147.2M contract termination fee signals potentially reduced content pipeline going forward, which could impact future subscriber growth.
Market Snapshot
Investment Themes
Documents Analyzed
This report is based on 6 SEC documents filed with EDGAR.
| Document | Accession Number |
|---|---|
| 8-K Filing (Primary) | 0001628280-26-054564 |
| Document: starz-20260807.htm | 0001628280-26-054564 |
| Document: 0001628280-26-054564-index-headers.html | 0001628280-26-054564 |
| Document: 0001628280-26-054564-index.html | 0001628280-26-054564 |
| Document: 0001628280-26-054564.txt | 0001628280-26-054564 |
| 8-K Data (Synthetic) | 0001628280-26-054564 |
Filters
| Type | Now | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Oct 23, 2026 4d ago | 8-K | $20.91 | awaiting T+20 | — | $20.91 (−0.00%) |
Oct 6, 2026 21d ago | 8-K | $23.53 | awaiting T+20 | — | $20.91 (−11.13%) |
Oct 1, 2026 26d ago | Press Release | $23.25 | awaiting T+20 | — | $20.91 (−10.06%) |
Aug 14, 2026 10w ago | Insider Cluster | $25.43 $27.21 | ▲ +7.00% | ▲ +8.98% | $20.91 (−17.77%) |
Aug 12, 2026 10w ago | Insider Cluster | $28.00 $25.87 | ▼ −7.61% | ▼ −5.86% | $20.91 (−25.32%) |
Aug 7, 2026 11w ago | 8-K | $26.22 $26.89 | ▲ +2.56% | ▲ +2.95% | $20.91 (−20.25%) |
May 15, 2026 23w ago | Insider Cluster | $21.27 $27.89 | ▲ +31.12% | ▲ +29.54% | $20.91 (−1.69%) |
May 14, 2026 23w ago | Insider Cluster | $23.12 $28.06 | ▲ +21.35% | ▲ +19.23% | $20.91 (−9.56%) |
May 12, 2026 24w ago | Insider Cluster | $20.35 $27.46 | ▲ +34.94% | ▲ +36.67% | $20.91 (+2.75%) |
Apr 15, 2026 27w ago | 8-K | $17.20 $19.64 | ▲ +14.19% | ▲ +8.37% | $20.91 (+21.57%) |
US Market Status
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