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Companies · MSGS · Services-Miscellaneous Amusement & Recreation · Earnings · Aug 13, 2026

The Knicks’ title delivered a huge EPS beat—but not cleaner cash flow

Beatpartly known
Diluted EPS $1.16 vs ~$0.64 published consensus
Madison Square Garden Sports Corp. (MSGS) — what happened, in plain English, and what it means versus what the market expected.

The headline result cleared expectations. Diluted fourth-quarter EPS was $1.16 versus a published consensus of roughly $0.64, a substantial beat. The filing does not provide company guidance or a comparable consensus for revenue or adjusted operating income, so EPS is the cleanest external benchmark.

$ millions, except per-share dataQ4 FY2026Q4 FY2025FY2026FY2025
Revenue$278.7 (Financial Highlights)$204.0 (Financial Highlights)$1,153.8 (Financial Highlights)$1,039.2 (Financial Highlights)
Operating income (loss)$32.2 (Financial Highlights)$(22.6) (Financial Highlights)$28.9 (Financial Highlights)$14.8 (Financial Highlights)
Adjusted operating income (loss)$39.6 (Adjusted operating income reconciliation)$(16.8) (Adjusted operating income reconciliation)$58.7 (Adjusted operating income reconciliation)$38.2 (Adjusted operating income reconciliation)
Diluted EPS$1.16 (Income Statement)$(0.07) (Income Statement)$0.32 (Income Statement)$(0.93) (Income Statement)
Operating cash flow——$62.7 (Cash Flow statement)$91.6 (Cash Flow statement)

The revenue surge was overwhelmingly championship-driven. Fourth-quarter revenue rose 37%, or $74.8 million, but $66.9 million of the increase came from playoff-related revenue as the Knicks won the 2025–26 NBA Championship, versus reaching the Eastern Conference Finals a year earlier. That makes the result better than the prior year, but less representative of recurring baseline growth than the headline numbers suggest. (Quarterly results)

Underlying economics improved, though costs absorbed much of the playoff windfall. Adjusted operating income rose to $39.6 million from a $16.8 million loss, while playoff-related expenses increased $49.2 million and SG&A rose 21%, including $2.9 million of spin-off costs. The filing shows a genuine operating rebound, but also highlights how much of the quarter’s upside depended on a high-margin opportunity that is difficult to repeat. (Quarterly results; Adjusted operating income reconciliation)

Cash flow was the main quality check—and it moved the wrong way. Full-year operating cash flow declined to $62.7 million from $91.6 million despite the earnings improvement. Cash ended at $164.5 million, while total debt fell to $258.5 million from $291.0 million. The balance sheet is somewhat less leveraged, but the weaker cash conversion tempers the apparent strength of the income statement. (Cash Flow statement; Balance Sheet)

The net read is a beat, but not a clean recurring-growth beat. The filing delivers a clear EPS upside surprise and confirms that demand, pricing, and the Knicks’ championship run produced meaningful monetization. However, the magnitude was partly anticipated because the championship and proposed Rangers separation were already known; the new information is chiefly the financial payoff and the company’s target to complete the spin-off by the end of October 2026. (Quarterly results; Spin-off discussion)

Read the original 8-K on SEC EDGAR ↗
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Sep 30, 2026MSG Sports transfer agreement clears NHL hurdle for Rangers spin-off, but blanks remainSep 22, 2026MSG Sports shifts COO Lesane to legal role as Rangers spin-off approachesAll MSGS filings, decoded →
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