Gray Media, Inc (GTN) · Nov 6, 2026 · Earnings
In line — Revenue $972M vs ~$956M consensus; diluted EPS $0.66 vs ~$0.84 consensus
Gray Media earnings topped revenue guidance as political advertising surged, but refinancing costs weighed on reported EPS and debt remains high.
Gray Media is expanding its local-TV footprint through acquisitions while trying to refinance and reduce a roughly $5.7 billion net-debt load; its prior quarter had already established 2026 as a political-advertising and balance-sheet-management year.
The operating quarter was better than the company’s revised bar. Total revenue reached $972 million versus revised guidance of $950 million-$965 million, with core advertising and political advertising both above their guidance ceilings. The result also exceeded the published revenue consensus of roughly $956 million, while adjusted EBITDA nearly doubled year over year to $319 million.
| Metric | Q3 2026 | Q3 2025 | Guidance / consensus |
|---|---|---|---|
| Core advertising revenue (Financial Highlights) | $358M (+1%) | $355M | $351M-$355M |
| Political advertising revenue (Financial Highlights) | $198M (+2,375%) | $8M | $188M-$195M |
| Total revenue (Financial Highlights) | $972M (+30%) | $749M | $950M-$965M / ~$956M |
| Adjusted EBITDA (Selected Operating Data) | $319M (+97%) | $162M | |
| Diluted EPS (Income Statement) | $0.66 | $(0.24) | ~$0.84 |
| Net cash from operating activities (Cash Flow statement) | $258M (+46%) | $177M |
Political advertising was the main upside, but the underlying business also held up. Political revenue of $198 million was above the revised $195 million high end, while core advertising grew 1% despite the expected election-related crowd-out. Net retransmission revenue rose 14% to $150 million, although the release says acquisitions supplied much of the growth and subscriber declines continued.
The reported EPS miss is largely a financing artifact, not an operating collapse. Diluted EPS was $0.66, below the published consensus near $0.84, but the quarter included a $40 million loss from early extinguishment of debt versus $7 million a year earlier. That charge obscured the much stronger operating result, though it still matters because Gray’s heavy debt load makes refinancing costs a recurring feature of the business. 〔0〕
Refinancing improves the maturity wall, but deleveraging is still unfinished. Gray extended about $2 billion of maturities, replaced expensive 10.5% notes with lower-cost debt, and expects to cut debt by $175 million-$200 million in the fourth quarter. However, net debt rose to $5.668 billion from $5.442 billion at year-end, while the company continues to carry a 5.70x consolidated total net leverage ratio.
Bottom line: Gray delivered an operational beat against its revised guidance, led by political advertising and acquisitions, but the reported EPS miss and still-heavy leverage keep this from being a clean earnings beat. The event modestly strengthens the operating story without changing the central debt-management challenge.
Q4 results and $175M-$200M debt paydown
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