Sinclair, Inc. operates predominantly as a broadcast television firm. It connects with audiences across diverse platforms, providing engaging and pertinent programming spanning ...
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Operator: Good day, everyone, and welcome to the Sinclair Second Quarter 2026 Earnings Conference Call. It is now my pleasure to hand the floor over to your host, Chris King, Vice President of Investor Relations. Sir, the floor is yours. Christopher King: Good afternoon, everyone, and thank you for joining Sinclair's Second Quarter 2026 Earnings Conference Call. Joining me on the call today are Chris Ripley, our President and Chief Executive Officer; Narinder Sahai, our Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer; and Rob Weisbord, our Chief Operating Officer and President of Local Media. Before we begin, I want to remind everyone that slides for today's earnings call are available on our website, sbgi.net, on the Events and Presentations page of the Investor Relations portion of the site. A webcast replay will remain available on our website until our next quarterly earnings release. Certain matters discussed on this call may include forward-looking statements regarding, among other things, future operating results. Such statements are subject to several risks and uncertainties. Actual results in the future could differ from those described in the forward-looking statements because of various important factors. Such factors have been set forth in the company's most recent reports as filed with the SEC and included in our second quarter earnings release. The company undertakes no obligation to update these forward-looking statements. Including on the call will be a discussion of non-GAAP financial measures, specifically adjusted EBITDA. This measure is not formulated in accordance with GAAP and is not meant to replace GAAP measurements and may differ from other companies' uses or formulations. Further discussions and reconciliations of the company's non-GAAP financial measures to comparable GAAP financial measures can be found on our website. Please note that unless otherwise noted, all year-over-year comparisons throughout today's call are presented on an as-reported basis. Let me now turn the call over to Chris Ripley. Christopher Ripley: Thank you, Chris, and good afternoon, everyone. Let me begin on Slide 3. We delivered a strong second quarter with results that reflected the early strength of the 2026 political cycle, continued distribution revenue growth and disciplined execution across the business. For the quarter, total revenue was $840 million, up 7% year-over-year; while adjusted EBITDA was $149 million, up 45%. Growth was led by political advertising, and the early pace of demand reinforces our confidence in the strength of the cycle and the value of our broad station footprint in many of the country's most competitive races. Distribution revenue continued to grow, supported by the partner station buy-ins completed over the past year. The combination of broadcast, connected television, digital and podcast inventory continues to expand the solutions we offer advertisers and positions us well as political demand builds …
| Metric | Latest | YoYYoY means Year-over-Year. It compares the latest annual value with the previous annual value to show long-term trend strength. | QoQQoQ means Quarter-over-Quarter. It compares the latest quarter with the immediately previous quarter to show short-term momentum changes. |
|---|---|---|---|
| The total money that came through the front door from selling things, before paying a single bill. Think of it as the grand total of every credit card swipe from customers. (YoY compares this year to last year's performance, while QoQ compares the current three months to the previous three). |
| Name | Title | Compensation | Gender | Year Born | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Christopher S. Ripley | President & Chief Executive Officer | USD 4,043,652 | Male | 1977 | Active |
David D. Smith | Executive Chairman of the Board | USD 2,910,657 |
| Male |
| 1951 |
| Active |
Robert D. Weisbord | Chief Operating Officer & President of Local Media | USD 2,373,425 | Male | 1963 | Active |
Jason Smith | Executive Vice Chairman | USD 1,807,496 | Male | — | Active |
David Gibber | Executive Vice President & Chief Legal Officer | USD 1,366,867 | Male | 1982 | Active |
Narinder Sahai | Executive Vice President & Chief Financial Officer | USD 802,443 | Male | 1977 | Active |
Michael J. Kralec | Senior Vice President & Chief Technology Officer | — | Male | — | Active |
Brian S. Bark | Executive Vice President & Chief Information Officer | — | Male | 1969 | Active |
Christopher C. King | Vice President of Investor Relations | — | Male | — | Active |
David R. Bochenek | Senior Vice President & Chief Accounting Officer | — | Male | 1963 | Active |
Est. EPS $0.27 · Revenue $872.88M · 1 analysts
Est. EPS $1.64 · Revenue $995.71M · 1 analysts
Est. EPS $1.21 · Revenue $3.52B · 3 analysts
$1.00 per share
| $3.2B |
| -10.7% |
| +4.1% |
| Net IncomeThe absolute bottom line. If the company paid every single supplier, employee, banker, and tax collector, this is the actual money left in their pocket at the end of the day. | $-112.0M | -136.1% | -480.0% |
| Gross MarginThe basic markup. If they sell a $100 pair of sneakers, this percentage tells you how much of that price tag is profit right after paying for the rubber and shoelaces, but before paying for things like store rent or TV commercials. | +36.1% | -30.1% | +24.5% |
| Operating MarginThe 'day job' efficiency score. Out of every dollar a customer spends, this shows how many cents the company keeps after making the product AND paying for all the everyday corporate overhead (like salaries, marketing, and keeping the lights on). | +4.9% | -68.7% | +41.3% |
| Net MarginThe final take-home percentage. When you strip away every conceivable cost, tax, and interest payment, this is the exact number of cents the company truly gets to keep from every dollar in sales. | -3.5% | -140.4% | -465.1% |
| Free Cash FlowThe holy grail of corporate cash. It's the spendable, physical money left over after the business pays for its daily operations AND buys the big, expensive upgrades (like new factories or servers) it needs to survive. This is the 'free' money they can use to pay dividends or buy back stock. | $115.0M | +721.4% | +64.3% |
| FCF MarginThe ultimate cash conversion rate. It shows how good the company is at turning regular sales directly into cold, hard, spendable cash. A high percentage means the business is an absolute cash-printing machine. | +3.6% | +819.7% | +57.8% |
| Debt / EquityThe financial risk gauge. It compares how much of the company's empire was built using borrowed money (loans) versus the owners' own money (shareholders). A high number means they are heavily leveraged and playing a riskier game; a low number means they are playing it safe. | 1020.1% | +38.9% | +14.1% |
| Current RatioThe 12-month survival check. It simply compares the cash they have right now (plus things they can quickly turn into cash) against the immediate bills they absolutely must pay this year. A score above 1 means they have enough in the wallet to cover the upcoming bills without panicking. | 2.42x | -1.5% | -19.8% |
| Total AssetsThe absolute size of the company's empire. It bundles together absolutely everything of value they own—from the cash in the register and the inventory in the warehouse, to the software patents in the vault and the factories on the ground. | $5.9B | +1.1% | -5.1% |
| Metric | Annual (A vs E) | Annual Surprise | Quarter (A vs E) | Quarter Surprise |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| EPS Surprise | -1.61 vs -3.27 | +50.8% | -1.06 vs -0.24 | -341.7% |
| Revenue Surprise | $3.2B vs $3.2B | -0.1% | $840.0M vs $839.0M | +0.1% |
| Date | Executive | Title | Security | Side | Shares | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 10, 2026 | Gibber David B | officer: EVP & Chief Legal Officer | Class A Common Stock | D | 28,828 | $13.74 |
| Aug 10, 2026 | Gibber David B | officer: EVP & Chief Legal Officer | Class A Common Stock | D | 418 | $13.82 |
| Aug 10, 2026 | Gibber David B | officer: EVP & Chief Legal Officer | Class A Common Stock | D | 5,799 | $13.76 |
| Jul 2, 2026 | KEITH DANIEL C | director | Class A Common Stock | D | 17,000 | $15.02 |
| Jun 24, 2026 | BOCHENEK DAVID R | officer: SVP/Chief Accounting Officer | Class A Common Stock | A | 8,617 | — |
