One-glance verdict
Undervalued
$487.89 our estimate vs market $164.59
Wall Street consensus: $246.75 (-49.4% lower than our fair-value estimate)
66% below our estimate, below the bear case
Fundamentals snapshot
Nexstar Media Group, Inc.
NXST · NMS · Communication Services · Broadcasting
Current price
$164.59
52-week range
$153.17 - $254.30
Market cap
$5.07B
Balance sheet
Distressed
2.28x Stretched
Net debt $11.87B. Interest coverage shows how many times profit covers the interest bill.
What stands out
3 Rewards
3 Risks
3 rewards · 3 risks
- Reward Revenue grew 18.7% last year.
- Reward Returns 7.4% on equity, ahead of 40% of its peers.
- Risk Stock trades 26.5% above its 5-year average P/E.
- Risk Operating margin compressed from 27.7% to 21.2% over 3 years.
What this company does
Nexstar Media Group, Inc.
Nexstar Media Group is a company that creates and shares local and national news, sports, and entertainment across TV and the internet. Most of their money comes from selling advertising on their TV stations and digital platforms, which is important because advertising revenue directly reflects how much people are watching and engaging with their content. This business model means their earnings can fluctuate based on advertiser spending and audience interest.
How the company got here
Nexstar Media Group started in 1996 with a single local TV station in Scranton, Pennsylvania, founded by Perry A. Sook. Over the years, through strategic acquisitions, Nexstar grew to become the largest local television broadcasting company in the United States. A key turning point was the acquisition of Tribune Media in 2019, which significantly expanded its reach. The company also made a strategic move to request payment from pay-TV services for retransmitting its local programming, a practice that has become a substantial revenue source for broadcasters. More recently, Nexstar has been expanding into national media with acquisitions like The Hill and the CW Network, signaling a shift towards a more diversified media presence.
What it actually does
Nexstar Media Group is a media company that creates and distributes news, sports, and entertainment content. Think of it as a large producer and distributor of television and digital content. They own and operate many local TV stations across the U.S., which are often affiliated with major networks like ABC, CBS, NBC, and Fox. Beyond local news, Nexstar also has national media properties, including a cable news channel and a broadcast network, reaching a wide audience across the country.
Broadcasting
This is Nexstar's largest business segment, where it owns and operates a vast number of local television stations. These stations are typically affiliated with major broadcast networks (like ABC, CBS, NBC, and Fox) and produce local news, sports, and other programming for their specific geographic areas. They make money primarily through advertising sales to local businesses and through retransmission fees, which are payments from cable and satellite TV providers for the right to carry Nexstar's channels. This segment forms the backbone of Nexstar's operations, reaching a significant portion of U.S. television households.
Networks
This segment includes Nexstar's national television properties. The most prominent of these is The CW Network, a broadcast television network that airs primetime entertainment and sports programming across the U.S. Nexstar also operates NewsNation, a national cable news channel, and owns multicast networks like Antenna TV and Rewind TV, which air classic programming. Revenue in this segment comes from advertising on these national channels and carriage fees from distributors.
Digital
Nexstar's digital operations encompass a wide range of online and mobile platforms. This includes the websites and mobile apps associated with its local TV stations, as well as dedicated digital properties like The Hill, a political news publication, and BestReviews, a product review site. They also manage digital advertising services, offering solutions to businesses looking to reach consumers online through various digital channels. This segment is focused on growing its digital audience and monetizing its content across various digital platforms.
What management is betting on now
Nexstar's management is focused on leveraging its extensive local content and national reach to drive growth. A key strategy is to expand and improve its national television networks, particularly NewsNation, aiming to increase viewership and profitability. They are also heavily investing in their digital platforms, seeking to better monetize their online content and audience through new products and services. By combining its strong local presence with its growing national and digital offerings, Nexstar aims to provide a comprehensive media solution for both consumers and advertisers.
Price history
How the share price has moved
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Earnings history
Last 8 quarters — what happened
Click any quarter to read the call summary and what the numbers say.
FY2024 Q3
$358.00M
FY2024 Q4
$376.00M
FY2025 Q1
$302.00M
FY2025 Q2
$218.00M
FY2025 Q3
$87.00M
FY2025 Q4
$136.00M
FY2026 Q1
$267.00M
FY2026 Q2
$253.00M
Revenue
$1.99B
Net income
$120.00M
Diluted EPS
3.61
Operating cash flow
$298.00M
Free cash flow
$253.00M
Fetching…
Sources
Revenue
$1.40B
Net income
$164.00M
Diluted EPS
5.09
Operating cash flow
$289.00M
Free cash flow
$267.00M
Fetching…
Sources
Revenue
$1.29B
Net income
$-166.00M
Diluted EPS
-5.57
Operating cash flow
$190.00M
Free cash flow
$136.00M
Fetching…
Sources
Revenue
$1.20B
Net income
$70.00M
Diluted EPS
2.14
Operating cash flow
$117.00M
Free cash flow
$87.00M
Fetching…
Sources
Revenue
$1.23B
Net income
$97.00M
Diluted EPS
3.06
Operating cash flow
$247.00M
Free cash flow
$218.00M
Fetching…
Sources
Revenue
$1.23B
Net income
$108.00M
Diluted EPS
3.37
Operating cash flow
$337.00M
Free cash flow
$302.00M
Fetching…
Sources
Revenue
$1.49B
Net income
$242.00M
Diluted EPS
7.44
Operating cash flow
$411.00M
Free cash flow
$376.00M
Fetching…
Sources
Revenue
$1.37B
Net income
$187.00M
Diluted EPS
5.27
Operating cash flow
$387.00M
Free cash flow
$358.00M
Fetching…
Sources
Is it cheap or expensive?
Fair value $487.89 vs current price $164.59
Wall Street consensus is the average analyst price target: $246.75 (-49.4% lower than our fair-value estimate).
Our most-likely fair value is $487.89 a share — about 196.4% above today's price of $164.59, so the stock currently looks cheap (undervalued).
Is it drowning in debt?
Distressed
Net debt $11.9B. Interest coverage 2.3x.
Net debt
$11.87B
Interest coverage
2.28x
Nexstar Media Group, Inc.'s profit covers its interest bill about 2.3 times over. which is stronger than most peers shown here and 3 peers sit below 1x, which is the danger zone where profit does not fully cover the interest bill.
Distressed
Worse cushion
Baseline
Better cushion
NXST
BASELINE
Nexstar Media Group, Inc.
Total debt $12.09B Interest coverage 2.28x This is the baseline the peer rows are being compared against.
Total debt $4.19B Interest coverage 0.39x -83% vs NXST Carries about 5.8x less debt cushion than NXST.
Total debt $5.89B Interest coverage 0.87x -62% vs NXST Carries about 2.6x less debt cushion than NXST.
Total debt $2.62B Interest coverage 0.73x -68% vs NXST Carries about 3.1x less debt cushion than NXST.
Total debt $7.57B Interest coverage 8.72x +283% vs NXST Carries about 3.8x more debt cushion than NXST.
What you should know
The case for and against NXST
3 Rewards
3 Risks
Rewards
-
Revenue grew 18.7% last year.
-
Returns 7.4% on equity, ahead of 40% of its peers.
-
Free cash flow was positive in 10/10 years.
Risks
-
Stock trades 26.5% above its 5-year average P/E.
-
Operating margin compressed from 27.7% to 21.2% over 3 years.
-
Insider ownership is only 6.7% (peer median: 10.8%).
The numbers
All the key metrics, grouped by purpose
Tap any ? icon to learn what it means.
Valuation
How expensive the stock looks
P/E (TTM)
31.17x
Forward P/E
6.33x
P/B
2.24x
P/S
0.86x
EV/EBITDA
9.97x
PEG ratio
0.28x
Profitability
How much profit each dollar creates
Gross margin
55.1%
Operating margin
21.2%
Net margin
3.2%
ROE
7.4%
ROA
5.1%
Health
Liquidity and balance-sheet strength
Debt / equity
5.34x
Current ratio
1.56x
Quick ratio
1.40x
Total debt
$12.09B
Total cash
$218.00M
Growth
How the business has been compounding
Revenue TTM
$5.88B
Revenue 5Y CAGR
1.6%
EPS TTM
5.28
EPS 5Y CAGR
-50.1%
Cash flow
How much cash the business throws off
Operating CF TTM
$894.00M
Free CF TTM
$743.00M
FCF margin
12.6%
Dividend
Shareholder payout
Yield
4.5%
Payout ratio
140.9%
Last ex-div date
2026-08-14