Stocks · Communication Services · Broadcasting
The E.W. Scripps Company SSP
$2.74 +3.79% Close, Oct 2, 2026 · NASDAQ · Market cap $218.1M
Next earnings report: Nov 5, 2026
Scroll or pinch to zoom, drag to move. Daily prices adjusted for splits. Markers: E = earnings (green beat, red miss), S = split, D = dividend.
Three things to know
- Diluted EPS over the last four quarters was $-13.94, down 3004.2% year over year.
- Operating margin narrowed to -51.3% from 17.1% a year earlier.
- The stock is in a downtrend: below its 200-day average, with the 50-day average below the 200-day.
PromtFinance scores
Each score is a percentile within the Communication Services sector (0–100). Under each score: how the stock ranks in its sector on every component. As of Oct 5, 2026.
How fast revenue, earnings and cash flow are growing.
- Revenue growth (TTM, YoY)Bottom 5%
- EPS growth (TTM, YoY)Bottom 2%
- FCF growth (TTM, YoY)Bottom 11%
- Revenue growth, 3-year CAGRBottom 18%
- Revenue growth accelerationBottom 36%
Returns on capital, margins, earnings quality and balance-sheet strength.
- Return on invested capitalBottom 5%
- Gross marginBottom 23%
- Operating marginBottom 5%
- Accruals (lower is better)Top 7%
- Interest coverBottom 15%
How cheap the shares are relative to earnings, cash flow and their own history.
- Earnings yieldBottom 3%
- Free-cash-flow yieldTop 15%
- EBITDA / enterprise valueBottom 8%
- Sales / enterprise valueTop 34%
Strength and persistence of the price trend, including versus the S&P 500.
- 12-month return excluding last monthTop 25%
- 6-month returnBottom 18%
- 1-year return vs S&P 500Top 34%
- Distance from 52-week highBottom 21%
- Trend checklist (0–4)Bottom 18%
Earnings surprises and analyst sentiment (estimate-revision history is being collected).
- Average EPS surprise, last 4 quartersBottom 20%
- Consecutive EPS beatsTop 34%
- Share of analysts rating BuyBottom 7%
- Upside to consensus price targetTop 45%
Low volatility, shallow drawdowns, low market sensitivity and modest leverage.
- Volatility, 60 days (lower is better)Bottom 36%
- Maximum drawdown, 3 yearsBottom 14%
- Beta vs S&P 500 (lower is better)Top 7%
What changed
Latest four quarters versus the same period a year earlier (growth: versus one quarter earlier).
| Measure | Before | Now | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue growth (YoY) | -13.3% | -14.2% | ↓ |
| EPS growth (YoY) | -301.1% | -3004.2% | ↓ |
| Gross margin | 46.9% | 31.5% | ↓ |
| Operating margin | 17.1% | -51.3% | ↓ |
| FCF margin | 10.0% | 1.7% | ↓ |
Fundamental momentum
| Measure | Now (TTM) | Year / quarter before | Sector rank | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue growth (TTM, YoY) | -14.2% | -13.3% | ↓ | Bottom 5% |
| EPS growth (TTM, YoY) | -3004.2% | -301.1% | ↓ | Bottom 2% |
| Gross margin | 31.5% | 46.9% | ↓ | Bottom 23% |
| Operating margin | -51.3% | 17.1% | ↓ | Bottom 5% |
| Net margin | -58.8% | 4.3% | ↓ | — |
| Free-cash-flow margin | 1.7% | 10.0% | ↓ | — |
| Return on invested capital | -31.4% | — | Bottom 5% | |
| Revenue growth, 3-year CAGR | -4.3% | — | Bottom 18% |
Quality of earnings and balance sheet
- Accruals (net income − OCF) / assetsLower is better; high accruals can signal weaker earnings quality.
- -36.1%
- Stock-based compensation / revenueA cost to shareholders through dilution.
- 1.0%
- Receivables growth vs revenue growthReceivables growing much faster than sales can be a warning.
- +9.2 pp
- Interest cover (operating income / interest)How many times operating profit covers interest.
- -3.9×
Shareholder returns
- Dividend yield (dividends paid, TTM)
- 0.00%
- Net buyback yield (TTM)
- 0.00%
- Shareholder yield
- 0.00%
- Share count change, 1 year
- +4.7%
- Share count change, 3-year CAGR
- +3.0%
Shareholder yield = dividends + net buybacks over the last four quarters, divided by market cap.
Based on the four quarters through Jun 30, 2026 (filed Aug 7, 2026).
Earnings and expectations
Earnings momentum
- Consecutive EPS beats
- 2
- Beats in the last 8 reports
- 3 of 8
- Average EPS surprise, last 4
- -80.0%
- Average 2-day reaction, last 8
- -4.6%
- Positive 20 days after report
- 3 of 8
Analysts
- Consensus price target
- $3.90
- Target vs current price
- +42.3%
- Analysts with a rating
- 8
- Share rating Buy or Strong Buy
- 25%
- Consensus rating
- Hold
How the stock reacted to recent reports
| Report date | EPS surprise | 2 days | 5 days | 20 days | 60 days |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 6, 2026 | +36.2% | +2.8% | +18.1% | +13.2% | — |
| May 7, 2026 | +4.8% | -5.1% | -29.4% | -32.3% | -42.8% |
| Feb 25, 2026 | -210.9% | +4.6% | +12.7% | -0.3% | -4.3% |
| Nov 6, 2025 | -150.0% | -2.8% | +45.5% | +110.9% | +62.1% |
| Aug 7, 2025 | -1375.0% | -10.5% | -2.2% | -4.1% | -26.4% |
| May 8, 2025 | +21.7% | +8.4% | -0.8% | -11.3% | +24.7% |
| Mar 11, 2025 | -1.0% | +1.4% | +83.0% | +66.7% | +51.1% |
| Nov 4, 2024 | -33.9% | -35.5% | -33.5% | -42.3% | -46.6% |
Returns from the close before each report. Past reactions do not determine future ones.
Earnings history
| Report date | EPS | Estimate | Surprise | Revenue |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 6, 2026 | -$0.34 | -$0.53 | +36.2% | $490.4M |
| May 7, 2026 | -$0.20 | -$0.21 | +4.8% | $516.9M |
| Feb 25, 2026 | -$0.51 | $0.46 | -210.9% | $560.3M |
| Nov 6, 2025 | -$0.40 | -$0.16 | -150.0% | $525.9M |
| Aug 7, 2025 | -$0.59 | -$0.04 | -1375.0% | $540.1M |
| May 8, 2025 | -$0.18 | -$0.23 | +21.7% | $524.4M |
| Mar 11, 2025 | $0.97 | $0.98 | -1.0% | $728.4M |
| Nov 4, 2024 | $0.37 | $0.56 | -33.9% | $646.3M |
Valuation in context
| Multiple | Now | 5-year median | 5-year percentile | Sector rank (cheapness) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| EV / Sales | 1.34× | — | — | Top 34% |
| Free-cash-flow yield | 16.06% | — | — | Top 15% |
| Earnings yield | -508.76% | — | — | Bottom 3% |
P/E over the past five years
Range 2.1× – 28.3× since Jun 30, 2021. Each point: price on the filing date divided by trailing-twelve-month EPS known then.
What moved the stock over the past year
- Price return, 1 year
- +7.5%
- Earnings per share growth (TTM)
- -3004.2%
- Change in P/E multiple
- -19.0%
Most of the move came from a change in the valuation multiple.
Technical state
Trend checklist
- ✗ Price above 20-day average
- ✗ Price above 50-day average
- ✗ Price above 200-day average
- ✗ 50-day average above 200-day
- ✗ MACD histogram positive
Trend quality
- Days above the 50-day average
- 0
- Days above the 200-day average
- 0
- 50-day average slope (20 days)
- -0.5%
- 200-day average slope (20 days)
- -3.8%
- Distance from 50-day average
- -11.5%
- Distance from 200-day average
- -22.9%
- RSI (14)
- 37.3
- Relative volume
- 1.20×
Risk and drawdowns
- Volatility, 60 days (annualized)
- 54.5%
- Volatility vs own 5-year history
- 29th percentile · Normal for this stock
- Beta vs S&P 500 (2 years, weekly)
- 0.15
- Correlation with S&P 500
- 0.02
- Current drawdown from 1-year high
- -46.9%
- Maximum drawdown, 3 years
- -84.5%
Largest declines in the past six years
| From peak | To low | Decline | Length | Recovery |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 12, 2021 | Mar 10, 2025 | -94.2% | 1002 days | Not yet recovered |
| Oct 2, 2020 | Oct 30, 2020 | -22.9% | 20 days | 6 days (Nov 9, 2020) |
Declines of 10% or more from a closing high, measured on daily closes.
Financial statements
- Market cap
- $218.1M
- EPS, diluted (TTM)
- -$13.94
- Revenue (TTM)
- $2.09B
- 52-week range
- $2.02 – $5.39
| FY 2021 | FY 2022 | FY 2023 | FY 2024 | FY 2025 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $2.28B | $2.45B | $2.29B | $2.51B | $2.15B |
| Gross profit | $1.18B | $1.22B | $1.01B | $1.19B | $725.2M |
| Operating income | $400.7M | $428.3M | -$753.2M | $412.5M | $162.2M |
| Net income | $122.7M | $195.9M | -$947.8M | $146.2M | -$100.9M |
| EPS (diluted) | $0.74 | $1.62 | -$11.84 | $1.01 | -$1.87 |
| Q3 2024 | Q4 2024 | Q1 2025 | Q2 2025 | Q3 2025 | Q4 2025 | Q1 2026 | Q2 2026 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $646.3M | $728.4M | $524.4M | $540.1M | $525.9M | $560.3M | $516.9M | $490.4M |
| Net income | $47.8M | $95.4M | -$3.5M | -$36.0M | -$33.0M | -$28.5M | -$1.8M | -$1.17B |
| EPS (diluted) | $0.37 | $0.92 | -$0.22 | -$0.59 | -$0.55 | -$0.51 | -$0.20 | -$12.68 |
| FY 2021 | FY 2022 | FY 2023 | FY 2024 | FY 2025 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Operating cash flow | $237.0M | $311.4M | $111.6M | $365.7M | $53.1M |
| Capital expenditure | -$61.2M | -$45.8M | -$59.6M | -$65.3M | -$46.6M |
| Free cash flow | $175.8M | $265.6M | $52.0M | $300.4M | $6.5M |
| Dividends paid | $0 | -$48.0M | $0 | $0 | $0 |
| Net share buybacks | $0 | -$8.9M | $0 | -$1.9M | $0 |
Cash outflows are shown as negative numbers.
- Cash and short-term investments
- $13.0M
- Total assets
- $3.65B
- Total liabilities
- $3.55B
- Total debt
- $2.59B
- Net debt
- $2.58B
- Shareholders’ equity
- $100.7M
As of Jun 30, 2026 (filed Aug 7, 2026).
Dividends
| Ex-date | Amount | Paid |
|---|---|---|
| Dec 14, 2020 | $0.05 | Dec 24, 2020 |
| Sep 14, 2020 | $0.05 | Sep 25, 2020 |
| Jun 12, 2020 | $0.05 | Jun 25, 2020 |
| Mar 13, 2020 | $0.05 | Mar 25, 2020 |
| Dec 12, 2019 | $0.05 | Dec 24, 2019 |
| Sep 12, 2019 | $0.05 | Sep 25, 2019 |
| Jun 13, 2019 | $0.05 | Jun 25, 2019 |
| Mar 14, 2019 | $0.05 | Mar 25, 2019 |
Short interest
- Shares sold short
- 4,618,476
- Days to cover
- 7.13
- Change vs previous report
- +6.3%
FINRA short interest, settlement date Sep 15, 2026.
Stock splits
- Dec 8, 2025
- 133-for-100
- Apr 1, 2015
- 1,127-for-1,000
- Jul 16, 2008
- 1-for-3
- Sep 13, 2004
- 2-for-1