Clear Channel Outdoor (NYSE:CCO) Beats Q3 CY2025 Sales Expectations

Outdoor advertising company Clear Channel Outdoor (NYSE:CCO) reported Q3 CY2025 results topping the market’s revenue expectations, with sales up 8.1% year on year to $405.6 million. Guidance for next quarter’s revenue was better than expected at $448.5 million at the midpoint, 1.2% above analysts’ estimates. Its GAAP loss of $0.12 per share was significantly below analysts’ consensus estimates.

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"During the third quarter, we delivered consolidated revenue growth of 8.1%, reflecting strong performance across both our America and Airports segments. This quarter's results provide continued evidence that we are executing on our four-pillar growth strategy outlined at our recent Investor Day," said Scott Wells, Chief Executive Officer of Clear Channel Outdoor Holdings, Inc.

Company Overview

With thousands of digital and traditional displays lighting up America's highways, city streets, and airports, Clear Channel Outdoor (NYSE:CCO) operates billboards, street furniture, and airport displays, connecting advertisers with millions of consumers across the US.

Revenue Growth

Reviewing a company’s long-term sales performance reveals insights into its quality. Any business can have short-term success, but a top-tier one grows for years.

With $1.57 billion in revenue over the past 12 months, Clear Channel Outdoor is a mid-sized business services company, which sometimes brings disadvantages compared to larger competitors benefiting from better economies of scale.

As you can see below, Clear Channel Outdoor’s demand was weak over the last five years. Its sales fell by 5.3% annually, a poor baseline for our analysis.

Long-term growth is the most important, but within business services, a half-decade historical view may miss new innovations or demand cycles. Clear Channel Outdoor’s revenue over the last two years was flat, sugggesting its demand was weak but stabilized after its initial drop.

This quarter, Clear Channel Outdoor reported year-on-year revenue growth of 8.1%, and its $405.6 million of revenue exceeded Wall Street’s estimates by 0.9%. Company management is currently guiding for a 5.1% year-on-year increase in sales next quarter.

Looking further ahead, sell-side analysts expect revenue to grow 4.5% over the next 12 months. While this projection indicates its newer products and services will fuel better top-line performance, it is still below the sector average.

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Adjusted Operating Margin

Clear Channel Outdoor has done a decent job managing its cost base over the last five years. The company has produced an average adjusted operating margin of 10.6%, higher than the broader business services sector.

Analyzing the trend in its profitability, Clear Channel Outdoor’s adjusted operating margin rose by 26.5 percentage points over the last five years, showing its efficiency has meaningfully improved.

This quarter, Clear Channel Outdoor generated an adjusted operating margin profit margin of 19.9%, up 2.1 percentage points year on year. This increase was a welcome development and shows it was more efficient.

Earnings Per Share

We track the long-term change in earnings per share (EPS) for the same reason as long-term revenue growth. Compared to revenue, however, EPS highlights whether a company’s growth is profitable.

Although Clear Channel Outdoor’s full-year earnings are still negative, it reduced its losses and improved its EPS by 60.1% annually over the last five years. The next few quarters will be critical for assessing its long-term profitability.

Like with revenue, we analyze EPS over a more recent period because it can provide insight into an emerging theme or development for the business.

For Clear Channel Outdoor, its two-year annual EPS growth of 85.1% was higher than its five-year trend. We love it when earnings improve, but a caveat is that its EPS is still in the red.

In Q3, Clear Channel Outdoor reported EPS of negative $0.12, down from negative $0.07 in the same quarter last year. This print missed analysts’ estimates. Over the next 12 months, Wall Street expects Clear Channel Outdoor to perform poorly. Analysts forecast its full-year EPS of negative $0.01 will tumble to negative $0.13.

Key Takeaways from Clear Channel Outdoor’s Q3 Results

It was good to see Clear Channel Outdoor provide revenue guidance for next quarter that slightly beat analysts’ expectations. We were also happy its revenue narrowly outperformed Wall Street’s estimates. On the other hand, its EPS missed. Overall, this quarter could have been better. The stock remained flat at $2.14 immediately following the results.

Is Clear Channel Outdoor an attractive investment opportunity at the current price? The latest quarter does matter, but not nearly as much as longer-term fundamentals and valuation, when deciding if the stock is a buy. We cover that in our actionable full research report which you can read here, it’s free for active Edge members.