AMC Networks Inc. closed 2025 at a watershed moment in its long-term transformation, with streaming becoming the company's largest single source of domestic revenue. That milestone, quietly tucked away in its fourth-quarter earnings, represents less of a victory lap than a validation of AMC Networks' patient, IP-driven shift away from linear dependency at a time when traditional cable economics are deteriorating.
AMC NETWORKS $AMCX JUST REPORTED Q4 EARNINGS
— WOLF (@WOLF_Financial) February 11, 2026
Topline Performance
• Revenue: $594.8M vs $581.7M est 🟢
Profitability
• Adj Operating Income: $103.6M vs $86.3M est 🟢
• Adj EPS: $0.64 vs $0.57 est 🟢
• EPS: -$1.26
• EBIT: -$50.9M
Cash Flow And Charges
• Free Cash Flow:… pic.twitter.com/sHCJ8GSKi4
In the fourth quarter, AMC Networks generated $595 million in revenue, down just 1% year on year, while delivering $40 million in free cash flow, exceeding its previously raised guidance. While GAAP operating results showed a quarterly loss due to impairment and restructuring charges, adjusted operating income was $104 million, demonstrating the strength of the company's underlying cash engine even as it restructures for a streaming-first future.
The most obvious story in the quarter was streaming. Domestic streaming revenue increased 14% year on year to $177 million, owing primarily to pricing changes across AMC+, Acorn TV, Shudder, and the company's broader portfolio of niche offerings. Notably, total streaming subscribers remained stable at 10.4 million, indicating that AMC Networks is prioritizing ARPU expansion and margin discipline over pure volume growth, an increasingly common strategy among mid-sized media companies navigating a post-peak-subscriber landscape.
This pricing-driven growth helped to offset continued declines in affiliate revenue, which fell 13% in the quarter as basic cable subscriptions decreased. Advertising revenue fell 10% as a result of soft linear ratings and lower pricing, adding to traditional TV's structural headwinds. However, content licensing increased by 12%, demonstrating the ongoing monetization value of AMC's extensive library and franchise-driven slate across third-party platforms.
AMC Networks Posts Mixed Q4 Results As Streaming Overtakes Linear TV As Top U.S. Revenue Source https://t.co/1T1DLWVlqx
— Deadline (@DEADLINE) February 11, 2026
AMC Networks reported $2.3 billion in revenue for the full year, a 5% decrease from the previous year, while generating $272 million in free cash flow. Streaming revenue increased 12% year on year and remains the largest revenue component within Domestic Operations, a critical inflection point that reshapes how investors should frame the company's long-term story.
AMC Networks' strategy remained focused and ownership-driven. The company paid $75 million for the remaining 17% of RLJ Entertainment, gaining full control of assets such as Acorn TV, ALLBLK, and RLJE Films while maintaining its investment in Agatha Christie Limited. The move strengthens AMC's grip on targeted, globally resonant brands that thrive in a subscription-based environment.
Programming remains the strategy's connective tissue. AMC Networks enters 2026 with a diverse slate that includes franchise extensions like The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon and The Vampire Lestat, new scripted bets like The Audacity, and expanded unscripted and live offerings such as TNA Wrestling and the sports docuseries Rise of the 49ers. This mix reflects AMC's long-held belief that passionate, underserved fan bases, rather than mass-market scale, are the foundation of sustainable streaming economics.
Internationally, results were uneven, with revenue falling 5% in the quarter and 6% year on year, but underlying advertising trends in markets such as the United Kingdom and Ireland showed pockets of resilience when prior-year retroactive adjustments were excluded. Restructuring actions in Europe and Latin America indicate a continued effort to right-size the international footprint, rather than pursuing growth at the expense of profitability.
Taken together, AMC Networks' fourth-quarter results do not tell a story of explosive growth, but they do tell a story of control. Streaming is now the business's economic center, free cash flow remains a top priority, and the company is focusing its portfolio on owned IP and well-defined audiences. In an industry still searching for post-linear equilibrium, AMC Networks believes that being smaller, focused, and cash-disciplined will ultimately be more valuable than chasing scale for its own sake.
