Media firms face tempered Q4 prospects as ad spend normalizes

LISTED media companies are heading into a challenging fourth quarter after weaker third-quarter earnings, as the post-election advertising boost dissipated and ad budgets normalized, analysts said, although a modest year-end recovery remains possible on seasonal holiday spending.

- By Ashley Erika O. Jose Reporter

"The industry narrative for 2025 has been clear all year — election advertising gave a meaningful, concentrated boost in H1 (first half) across listed media houses, and Q3 was the natural correction month when those incremental ad budgets disappeared," Globalinks Securities and Stocks, Inc. Head of Sales Trading Toby Allan C. Arce said in a Viber message on Tuesday.

During the third quarter, both GMA Network, Inc. and ABS-CBN Corp. posted lower attributable net income as revenues softened.

"Looking ahead, a recovery by Q4 or by yearend is possible but far from guaranteed; the most likely near-term uplift would come from seasonally stronger year-end advertising and any successful new content or digital monetization wins," Mr. Arce added.