麥迪遜廣場花園娛樂 (MSGE) 2026 財年第四季法說會：營收突破 10 億美元

重點摘要

• MSG Entertainment 2026 財年營收突破 10 億美元，成長 13%，調整後營業利益則成長 18% 至 2.62 億美元。
• 第四財季營收年增 27% 至 1.963 億美元，主要受惠於麥迪遜廣場花園 (Madison Square Garden) 舉辦更多演唱會。調整後營業利益從去年同期的虧損 130 萬美元轉盈至 1,860 萬美元。
• 該公司在 2026 財年舉辦近 960 場現場活動，吸引約 640 萬名觀眾。第四季的大部分演唱會門票皆售罄。
• 《聖誕奇觀秀》(Christmas Spectacular) 在 215 場售票演出中售出超過 120 萬張門票，創下約 1.95 億美元的歷史新高營收，入場人數更創 25 年來新高。
• 管理層預計 2027 財年營收和調整後營業利益將持續成長，主要受惠於活動場次增加、單場活動獲利能力提升、頂級貴賓招待與贊助收入成長。
• MSG Entertainment 在 2026 財年回購約 2,500 萬美元的 A 類股，截至 6 月底擁有 2.94 億美元的非受限現金以及約 5.79 億美元的債務。

關鍵財務數據

業務與營運表現

演唱會活動是第四季的主要成長動能。MSG Entertainment 透過提高 NBA 季後賽期間的場地利用率，使麥迪遜廣場花園的演唱會場次比去年同期成長一倍以上。演唱會場次增加也帶動了餐飲與週邊商品營收，儘管劇院演唱會減少抵銷了部分成長。

紐約尼克隊 (Knicks) 在 NBA 總冠軍爭奪戰中的表現，為公司與 MSG Sports 協議下的共享營收帶來支撐。MSG Entertainment 主辦了九場尼克隊季後賽，場次與去年同期相同，但相關第四季營收增加了 740 萬美元。該公司受惠於餐飲利潤分潤、球隊週邊商品銷售以及單夜包廂出租佣金。

《聖誕奇觀秀》在 2026 財年售出超過 120 萬張門票。針對 2026 年節慶季，公司開賣場次已由 215 場增加至 230 場，並計劃引進全新火箭女郎 (Rockettes) 演出橋段與沉浸式技術。

行銷合作夥伴關係包括與 Kalshi 簽訂新的多年期協議，以及與 Lexus、百威英博 (Anheuser-Busch) 和 Infosys 續約。MSG Entertainment 還報告了強勁的包廂銷售與續約狀況，並計劃對麥迪遜廣場花園的包廂進行進一步翻新。

管理層展望

管理層預計 2027 財年營收與調整後營業利益將實現穩健成長。公司計劃增加演唱會、特別活動和重大體育賽事的活動場次，同時提升單場活動的經濟效益。

在電話會議舉行時，麥迪遜廣場花園 2027 財年的預訂目標已達成近 90%，而劇院預訂目標約達成 60%。在哈利·史泰爾斯 (Harry Styles) 8 月至 10 月共 30 場駐場演唱會的加持下，管理層預計第一財季將創下廣場花園演唱會場次的歷史新高。

公司預計 2027 財年的預訂成長將由演唱會領軍，特別活動和重大體育賽事也將帶來額外貢獻。NCAA 男子籃球東區決賽將於 3 月重返麥迪遜廣場花園。儘管在電話會議時劇院在 9 月和 12 月季度的進度較為落後，管理層仍預計整個財年廣場花園和劇院均能實現成長。

針對《聖誕奇觀秀》，管理層預計由於演出場次增加以及平均門票收益提升，票房收入將有所成長。公司打算依據各場次動態管理定價與票源，以實現營收最大化。

場館授權費的現金部分預計在 2027 財年約為 4,700 萬美元，且至 2055 財年前每年成長 3%。管理層還預計，在調整後營業利益成長的支撐下，潛在自由現金流將十分強勁，但部分會被利息支出、稅金、資本支出和營運資金時間差所抵銷。

風險與關注領域

擬議中的 Infosys Theater 轉讓計畫仍需進行談判並簽署最終文件。目前尚未就潛在收益的用途做出決定。管理層指出，再投資於另一個場館將是減少潛在稅務損失的主要途徑。

公司正在評估是否可將與 Infosys Theater 相關的活動、贊助和廣告牌轉移至紐約的其他資產。其財務影響和收回程度仍存在不確定性。

劇院在 9 月和 12 月季度的預訂進度落後於去年。管理層表示，典型的劇院預訂窗口為三至六個月，仍有時間縮小差距。

2.94 億美元的非受限現金餘額中，包含應付給主辦單位的大額款項。管理層預計隨著預定活動的舉辦，該狀況將部分回轉，從而對自由現金流造成營運資金方面的逆風。

分析師問答亮點

• Infosys Theater 交易：管理層正與 Penn Transformation Partners 敲定最終文件。公司正在評估將活動與合作資源轉移至紐約其他場館的機會。
• 資金潛在用途：目前尚未做出分配決定。優先事項仍是維持資產負債表強健、為具吸引力的機會保留靈活性，以及適時回報股東。
• 駐場演出策略：管理層將藝人駐場演出視為創造經常性活動並提高預訂能見度的方式。除了哈利·史泰爾斯 (Harry Styles) 外，2027 財年在公司旗下各場館的駐場演出還包括邦喬飛 (Bon Jovi)、Phish、久石讓 (Joe Hisaishi)、賽斯·梅爾 (Seth Meyers)、約翰·奧利佛 (John Oliver) 以及傑瑞·史菲德 (Jerry Seinfeld)。
• 尼克隊經濟效益：MSG Entertainment 保留 30% 的球隊週邊商品淨營收，與尼克隊及遊騎兵隊 (Rangers) 平分 50% 的餐飲淨利潤，並賺取單夜包廂銷售佣金。
• 家庭節目：由於缺乏太陽馬戲團 (Cirque du Soleil) 之前的節慶檔期演出，導致基期比較困難，但管理層預計其他家庭與表演藝術節目能很大程度上抵銷此影響。

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完整財報電話會議逐字稿

管理層陳述

Operator

Good morning. Thank you for standing by, and welcome to the Madison Square Garden Entertainment Corp. Fiscal 2026 Fourth Quarter and Year-End Earnings Conference Call. [Operator Instructions]

I would now like to turn the call over to Ari Danes, Senior Vice President, Investor Relations and Treasury. Ari, please go ahead.

Ari Danes

Thank you. Good morning, and welcome to MSG Entertainment's fiscal 2026 fourth quarter and year-end earnings conference call. On today's call, David Collins, our EVP and Chief Financial Officer, will provide an update on the company's operations and review our financial results for the period. After our prepared remarks, we'll open up the call for questions. If you do not have a copy of today's earnings release, it is available in the Investors section of our corporate website. Please take note of the following.

Today's discussion may contain forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Any such forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance or results and involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements. Please refer to the company's filings with the SEC for a discussion of risks and uncertainties. The company disclaims any obligation to update any forward-looking statements that may be discussed during this call. On Pages 4 and 5 of today's earnings release, we provide consolidated statements of operations and a reconciliation of operating income to adjusted operating income, or AOI, a non-GAAP financial measure.

With that, I'll now turn the call over to David.

David Collins

Thank you, Ari, and good morning, everyone. Fiscal 2026 was an outstanding year for our company with full year revenues of more than $1 billion and adjusted operating income of $262 million. This represented increases of 13% and 18%, respectively, driven by growth across all key areas of our business. In addition, we continue to execute on one of our core capital allocation priorities during the year, repurchasing approximately $25 million of our Class A common stock. And in June, we announced the proposed transfer of the Infosys Theater at Madison Square Garden as part of the Penn Station redevelopment project, a transaction that, if finalized, would further our goal of creating long-term shareholder value.

As we head into fiscal '27, we look to build on our operating momentum with a continued focus on growing the number of events across our venues, increasing per event profitability, delivering another record-setting year for the Christmas Spectacular and advancing our sponsorship and premium hospitality businesses. We also anticipate strong ongoing demand from consumers and partners alike, which we believe sets us up for another year of solid growth in revenues and AOI in fiscal '27. Let's now review some key operational highlights.

During fiscal '26, we hosted approximately 6.4 million guests at nearly 960 live events. That included a strong fiscal fourth quarter where we more than doubled the number of concerts at the Garden year-over-year, reflecting our efforts to drive utilization within the NBA playoff window. And in terms of consumer demand, the majority of our concerts were again sold out during the quarter. Looking ahead to fiscal '27, we expect to grow the number of events at our venues year-over-year as we host a wide range of bookings across concerts, special events, family shows and marquee sports. This includes a number of high-profile upcoming events such as Harry Styles residency with 30 dates from August through October and return of the NCAA Men's Basketball East Regionals to the Garden in March.

Turning to the Christmas Spectacular production. During fiscal '26 across 215 paid performances, we sold over 1.2 million tickets, the highest attendance in 25 years, leading to another record-setting year for the production with approximately $195 million in revenue. We are currently on sale with 230 shows for the 2026 holiday season, a new high in terms of number of performances in a year. This year's show will feature the addition of a new Rockettes scene as well as new immersive technology that will give audiences different perspectives of the production as we continue innovating going into our 93rd season.

In terms of our agreements with MSG Sports, the Knicks and Rangers completed their '25, '26 regular seasons during the quarter with the Knicks advancing to the NBA playoffs and ultimately going on to win the NBA Championship. For both our fourth quarter and full year, we saw robust growth on a per game basis in our Knicks and Rangers shared revenue streams, including suites and food, beverage and merchandise, which all benefit from the Knicks post-season run. We expect this momentum to carry forward into fiscal '27. In addition, the cash component of the Arena license fees will be approximately $47 million in fiscal '27 and will continue to grow 3% each year through fiscal 2055.

On the marketing partnerships front, we capitalized on several notable opportunities in fiscal '26. We welcome new partners, including most recently a multiyear deal with Kalshi, while also reaching multiyear renewals with Lexus, Anheuser-Busch and Infosys. And in terms of premium hospitality, we again saw strong new sales and renewal activity for suites at the Garden. That included a number of Lexus level suites that were renovated at the start of the fiscal year. We're continuing to build on the successful initiative by renovating several more suites to drive incremental revenue in fiscal '27. So as we look to the next fiscal year, we expect the positive momentum in both marketing partnerships and premium hospitality to continue.

Turning to the Penn Station redevelopment. In May, Amtrak selected Penn Transformation Partners, led by Halmar International and Skanska as the master developer team to redevelop Penn Station. We then announced in June that we had entered into a nonbinding MOU with a master developer to transfer the Infosys Theater at Madison Square Garden. Our proposed agreement will also acknowledge that the Arena will remain fully operational during the redevelopment. We believe the potential transaction, which remains subject to negotiation and definitive documents, makes strategic and financial sense for the company as we look to create long-term value for our shareholders. We look forward to working with the master developer team, and we'll keep you updated as we have more to share.

Now let's turn to our financial results. For the fiscal '26 fourth quarter, revenues were $196.3 million, up 27% year-over-year. This primarily reflected an increase in revenues from entertainment offerings and to a lesser extent, higher food, beverage and merchandise revenues. The increase in revenues from entertainment offerings as well as food, beverage and merchandise primarily reflected the increase in number of concerts at the Garden during the quarter. In addition, we benefited from higher revenues subject to the sharing of economics with MSG Sports, including the benefit of the next championship run in areas such as merchandise.

Revenues from venue-related sponsorships, signage and suite license fees also grew year-over-year. These increases were partially offset by fewer concerts at our theaters. Fourth quarter adjusted operating income of $18.6 million increased $19.9 million from an adjusted operating loss of $1.3 million in the prior year quarter. This significant year-over-year growth primarily reflects the robust increase in revenues, partially offset by higher direct operating and SG&A expenses.

Turning to our balance sheet. As of June 30, we had $294 million of unrestricted cash, while our debt balance was approximately $579 million. This cash balance includes a significant amount due to promoters, which reflects the robust concert activity ahead at our venues led by the Garden. With respect to fiscal '27, we anticipate generating significant free cash flow on an underlying basis. This will primarily be driven by our substantial and growing adjusted operating income, partially offset by ongoing net interest payments related to our credit facilities, which totaled $32 million in fiscal '26, our status as a full cash taxpayer, capital expenditures, which will reflect some incremental spend related to technology investments across the company and select suite renovations at the Garden and the timing of working capital, including the partial reversal of our cash due to promoters balance as a result of the timing of events.

As I touched on earlier, we repurchased approximately 623,000 shares of our Class A common stock for $25 million during fiscal '26. Since our spin-off in 2023, we have repurchased approximately 6.1 million shares in total for $205 million. And going forward, we'll continue to explore ways to opportunistically return capital to shareholders. So in summary, we saw strong demand across our business in fiscal 2026. We see this momentum continuing in fiscal 2027 and remain confident in our ability to deliver long-term shareholder value.

I'll now turn the call back over to Ari.

Ari Danes

Thanks, David. Operator, can we now open up the call for questions?

Operator

[Operator Instructions] Your first question comes from the line of Peter Henderson with Bank of America.

分析師問答

Peter Henderson

Two, if I can, related. Can you just update us on the status of the Infosys Theater sale process? And if that sale occurs, how much of the venues event volume and associated economics like the sponsorship, do you believe you can recapture elsewhere in your portfolio?

David Collins

Sure. Peter, thanks for the question. First, I'd like to congratulate Penn Transformation Partners on being selected to redevelop Penn Station. And as I had mentioned earlier, we believe that this potential transaction is in line with our goal of creating long-term value for our shareholders. So currently, we're working through the definitive documents with their team and we will keep you posted on that progress.

As it relates to our ability to redirect the theaters business, first, I would remind you that a significant majority of our company's economics are driven by the Garden and the Christmas Spectacular production. The theaters in aggregate follow those 2 revenue streams. That said, we are exploring all opportunities to maximize the economic benefit of this potential transaction, which does include analyzing our ability to shift events from the Infosys theater to our other theaters in New York. And I would say in terms of sponsorship and signage, our partnerships do generally allow us the flexibility within our business while protecting the value delivered to our partners. So similar to events, we are evaluating ways to leverage our other live entertainment assets for sponsorship and signage.

Operator

Your next question comes from the line of Brandon Ross with LightShed.

Brandon Ross

Just maybe a follow-up on the last one. Assuming the Infosys sale does go through, how do you guys expect to use the proceeds and limit tax leakage at the same time? And do those options include partnering with Sphere potentially on New York Sphere or Sphere elsewhere?

David Collins

Thanks, Brandon. I would say with regard to the proposed transfer of the theater, our focus right now currently is on completing the proposed transaction. No decisions have been made at this stage in terms of the use of those proceeds should the transfer be completed. But with that said, we are certainly mindful of the potential tax implications related to the transfer of the theater. And as you may know, the primary way to minimize the tax leakage would be to reinvest the potential proceeds in another venue. So of course, we would evaluate venue opportunities in New York City market if they presented to us in the future. But I don't think we're in a position to speculate on any hypothetical venue transactions at this time.

I'd also add that any decision that we do make will be in line with our core priorities for capital allocation, which, as you know, are ensuring that we continue to have a strong balance sheet, that we maintain our flexibility to pursue compelling opportunities when they arise and lastly, to opportunistically return capital to our shareholders. So we will continue to make our decisions based on these priorities and we'll have more to share as we move through that process.

Ari Danes

Thanks, Brandon. Operator, we'll take the next question.

Operator

Your next question comes from Stephen Laszczyk with Goldman Sachs.

Stephen Laszczyk

I wanted to see if you could provide an update on the pacing of event bookings in 2027 across the portfolio. Just to be curious how much visibility you have into bookings potentially growing at the Garden year-over-year? And then I wanted to check in on the pacing of bookings around the theater footprint since we last caught up in the third quarter, how that's progressed since.

David Collins

Sure, Stephen. In terms of our progress, we're almost 90% to our bookings goal for this year for the Garden and about 60% of the way there for -- 60% to our goal for our theaters. Our fiscal first quarter is already underway and we remain on track to shatter our record for the number of concerts in any quarter at the Garden. Obviously, that includes the impact of the Harry Styles residency. At our theaters, we are currently pacing behind for the September quarter. And looking at the December quarter, we are again pacing ahead at the Garden in terms of the number of concerts, but still behind at the theaters.

However, as I've discussed in the past, the booking window at our theaters is typically a 3 to 6 months in advance window. So we do still have time and we are definitely working to narrow that gap. So I would say, overall, all in, we feel good about our start to the year and expect to drive growth at both the Garden and our theaters in fiscal '27.

Operator

Your next question comes from the line of David Karnovsky with JPMorgan.

David Karnovsky

Thank you for the color on the upcoming year. As it relates to the Christmas show, can you just update on the sales pacing and price strategy? And you mentioned 230 show count. Is there any room to move that higher if the demand is there?

David Collins

Sure, David. While it's still early in the sales cycle, our expectation is that we will grow ticketing revenue this year, which reflects both more shows and higher average ticket yields. As you mentioned, we are on sale with 230 performances right now for the 2026 holiday season, which is up from 215 last year and that translates to a mid-single-digit percentage increase in show count year-over-year. In addition, the Christmas Spectacular continues to be a premium entertainment product and is still priced well below average ticket prices for comparable entertainment options in the city. So given all that, we will continue to thoughtfully manage and market and price our ticketing inventory to maximize revenue for every show.

I would again note that this year's show will feature the addition of a new Rockettes scene as well as new immersive technology, which we believe will give audiences a different perspective of the production. So we continue to believe that our efforts to continue innovating the show will help drive increased interest and we remain confident in the growth opportunity for the '26 holiday season.

Operator

Your next question comes from the line of Cameron Mansson-Perrone with Morgan Stanley.

Cameron Mansson-Perrone

I wanted to ask a general one on residency models. Specifically, when you lost the Billy Joel residency, it took you some time to replace that activity. Obviously, found a great replacement in Harry Styles. But looking back on that, why was the situation with Billy Joel maybe unique? And what do you think you can do or have you done operationally to try to reduce similar volatility around residency changes year-to-year going forward?

David Collins

That's a good question, Cameron. We believe there is great value, obviously, in bringing residencies to our venues. We believe it builds more of a recurring base of our business and it really also increases the visibility into our forward calendar. So bringing residency remains a really important area for our bookings business and a key focus of our team. With that said, every residency is going to look a little different, right? Artists want to put their own unique structure and spin on their residency. For example, Billy Joel, that was one concert per month where with Harry Styles, that means every Wednesday, Friday, Saturday for 10 straight weeks. So each one is going to look a little different.

I would also note that we also have a number of other residencies across our venues in the first half of fiscal '27. Bon Jovi and Fish have been at the Garden both this past month. Joe Hisaishi currently at Radio City and Seth Meyers and John Oliver as well as Jerry Seinfeld have each extended their long-running residencies at the Beacon Theatre. So I would reiterate that we are off to a strong start in terms of our concert bookings for fiscal 2027. And while it's a little early to discuss fiscal 2028 and beyond, we continue to have discussions with other artists about future residencies at all our venues, including the Garden. So we will certainly keep working on that and keep you updated on the progress.

Operator

Your next question comes from the line of David Joyce with Seaport.

David Joyce

I appreciate the color that you had an increase in Madison Square Garden sharing revenue from the Knicks championship run. Could you please detail the revenue and AOI components on the various business lines that contribute to that? Did the sponsorship provide some of that? I know you did mention merchandise, food and beverage, suites. If you could please help us understand what that contribution was?

David Collins

Sure, David. First of all, I would say that we were very excited to see the Knicks win the NBA championship. As you mentioned, we benefit from those playoff games at the Garden through our agreements with MSG Sports. We share in revenue streams like F&B, merchandise, single night suite rentals. First of all, we operate and manage the F&B services during all team events. And MSG shares 50% of the net profits with the Knicks and Rangers. We also operate and manage the team merchandise sales at the Garden and retain 30% of net revenues. And we also earn commission on sales of single night suites at the Garden during Knicks and Rangers games.

So this year, we hosted 9 Knicks playoff games during the Teams Championship run. While that compares to the same number of games in the year ago period when the team advanced to the Eastern Conference finals, today's results reflect a $7.4 million increase in fourth quarter revenues related to our agreements with MSG Sports, which includes the impact of the championship run. So we believe that this reflects the enthusiasm we saw from fans throughout this year's championship run in those areas such as merchandise and F&B sales. And one thing I'd also like to say is we believe that, that strong team performance will benefit this upcoming year in the form of continued strong in arena attendance, which will further benefit our shared revenue streams with MSG Sports.

Ari Danes

Thanks for the question, David. Operator, we'll take one last caller.

Operator

Your last question comes from the line of Joe Stauff with Susquehanna.

Eric Mondelblatt

This is Eric Mondelblatt on for Joe. Just one from us. You gave some helpful details on the fiscal 2027 bookings outlook in aggregate. But could you talk about the bookings outlook by category across concerts, special events, family shows and marquee sporting events?

David Collins

Thanks for the question, Eric. As I mentioned earlier, we expect to increase the number of bookings in fiscal '27. We expect that growth to be driven primarily by concerts and to a lesser extent, special events and marquee sports. For our concert category, our expectations include another year of concert growth at the Garden as well as increases across our theaters. I would say in terms of special events, we are also expecting an increase in the number of events along with improved per event economics. Looking at marquee sports, we expect to see modest event growth this coming year, which will include the NCA East Regional tournament returning to the garden in March, and that will be a significant multi-day event in our fiscal third quarter. And lastly, in terms of our family show category, I would say we faced a tough year-over-year comparison with the absence of Cirque du Soleil's holiday run at the Infosys Theater and the Chicago Theater that took place this past year.

However, we expect that to be largely offset by a variety of family and performing arts attractions in the year ahead, including the [indiscernible] production that just ran at Radio City Music Hall. So overall, we are expecting growth across a number of our bookings categories and feel really good about our bookings calendar for fiscal '27.

Operator

We have reached the end of the question-and-answer session. I will now turn the call back to Ari for closing remarks.

Ari Danes

Thank you all for joining us. We look forward to speaking with you on our fiscal '27 first quarter earnings conference call. Have a good day.

Operator

This concludes today's call. Thank you for attending. You may now disconnect.