Lionsgate Widens Q1 Loss On Reduced Studio Business Revenue

Lionsgate, now without Starz results, on Thursday posted lower overall studio business revenues and a widened loss for the first quarter of fiscal 2026.

The Hollywood studio, led by CEO Jon Feltheimer, during the first quarter recorded a net profit attributable to shareholders at $108.9 million, compared to a year-earlier $59.4 million loss, on overall studio business revenue falling to $556 million, compared to a year-earlier $590.7 million. The total revenue line for the latest quarter beat a Wall Street estimate by $3 million.

Lionsgate posted an earnings per-share loss of 40 cents, compared to a year-earlier per-share loss of 24 cents. Adjusted OIBDA came to a loss of $3.7 million. The newly-launched Lionsgate Studios business is comprised of Lionsgate’s Motion Picture Group and Television Studio business, along with a 20,000-strong film and TV library. Starz, also a standalone publicly-traded company, discloses its own financial results.

The company’s studios business, which combines the Motion Picture and TV production segments, saw Motion Picture revenue fall to $267.3 million, compared to $349.6 million in the year-ago period. Lionsgate said the prior year period had gains from from carry-over profits from fiscal 2024 titles like The Hunger Games: The Ballad Of Songbirds & Snakes.

During the latest first quarter, Ballerina, a spin-off from the John Wick franchise, was the main theatrical release out of Lionsgate, with Shadow Force and Hurry Up Tomorrow also filling screens at the multiplex. During an after-market analyst call, CEO Feltheimer said the studio was laying the ground “toward returning to the solid and significant growth in fiscal 27 that we’ve previously projected.”  

He pointed to three major tentpoles anchoring the fiscal 2027 movie slate: The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping, which has just started production in Spain ahead of a Thanksgiving 2026 release; the Michael Jackson biopic Michael  dated for a April 24, 2026 release as it shifts to next year; and Mel Gibson’s Resurrection of the Christ, the follow-up to The Passion of the Christ, to be released in two parts. The first film will open on Good Friday in March 2027, and the second film will roll out six weeks later on Ascension Day in May 2027.

Feltheimer alluded to the recent domestic box office underperformance for Ballerina, but added the film is nearing $140 million at the worldwide box office and doing well in ancillary markets with John Wick fans. 

Elsewhere during the latest quarter, TV production revenue rose to $288.5 million, against a year-earlier $241.1 million, on an increase in episodic deliveries and more profitable new series. “Though we continue to see pressure in the broader TV operating environment, we are continuing to deliver noisy properties that resonate across every genre, economic model and type of platform,” Feltheimer told analysts.

He pointed to premium TV series like Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg’s The Studio for Apple TV+ and The Hunting Wives on Netflix as performing for Lionsgate. Upcoming TV titles include the gladiator drama Spartacus: House of Ashur and the spinoff Power: Origins for Starz.

The segment profit, a key metric, for the Motion Picture division, came in at $2.4 million, compared to a year-earlier $85.2 million. The TV Production segment profit came in at $26 million, compared to a year-earlier $10.7 million.

On the analyst call, Feltheimer addressed the strategic possibilities in bringing in a partner to help run and grow the management and production company 3 Arts Entertainment, with an eye to possibly reducing the studio’s debt load.

“They’re doing a great job. They’re (3 Arts) on a roll in a really hot sector, and there’s lots of investor interest in it. We’ve spent some money on acquiring two terrific management companies (One is A&A Management). But, for sure, we’re cognizant of our balance sheet and if we can bring in the right partner to help us fund the growth and help us a little on the balance sheet, I think that’s something we would certainly and are considering,” Feltheimer added. Lionsgate has a majority 75 percent stake in 3 Arts.  

On the mergers and acquisitions front, Feltheimer defended the recent separation of Lionsgate’s studio business from Starz for opening up strategic possibilities for the studio in a disrupted and consolidating entertainment industry. “We understand our earnings power, but also understand the scale we have, that I think doing some kind of strategic transaction down the road is something that’s probably going to happen, there’s lots of ways that could happen and we’re pretty focused on it,” he said.

Feltheimer spent much of the call touting the value of his studio’s content library, its movie franchises, the stake in 3 Arts and ancillary markets like video gaming and Broadway shows to underline Lionsgate’s future earnings power after its separation from Starz, and by implication the studio’s appeal to potential suitors. “I’m not going to put a number on it, but I would say that would be indicative to me of how you would value some of the parts,” he argued.

On the call, Adam Fogelson, chair of the Lionsgate Motion Picture Group, gave an update on Lionsgate, Hasbro and Barbie outfit LuckyChap moving forward on Monopoly, an adaptation of the board game. The Dungeons & Dragons duo John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein have delivered a first draft and revisions continue, while Margot Robbie’s LuckyChap banner is producing. “We are well down the field on this first step in the creative process, and I think we are excited about the possibility of getting this movie into production,” Fogelson reported.

And Lionsgate also updated development on Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight animated TV series Midnight Sun for Netflix. “We’ve had an amazing experience developing the scripts. We had an incredible table read with a full cast assembled. Recently, we’ve been seeing some early animatics,” Kevin Beggs, Lionsgate Television Group chair and chief creative officer, told analysts as that project continues to move forward.