Madison Square Garden Entertainment Corp. (MSGE) had a good day on Wednesday, and it's not hard to see why. The live entertainment company reported fiscal fourth-quarter results that came in well ahead of what Wall Street was bracing for, and investors responded by pushing the stock to a fresh 52-week high.
The numbers tell a pretty clear story. The company posted a loss of 21 cents per share, which sounds bad until you hear that analysts were expecting a loss of 49 cents. Revenue hit $196.32 million, comfortably above the $166.62 million consensus estimate. That's a 27% jump from the $154.14 million the company brought in during the same quarter last year.
So what's driving all this growth? Concerts, mostly. Entertainment offerings generated $152.7 million in revenue, up 29% from a year earlier. Concert revenue alone increased by $22.7 million, thanks to more shows at Madison Square Garden Arena and higher revenue per concert. That was partially offset by fewer concerts at the company's theaters, but the overall trend was clearly positive.
It wasn't just concerts, though. Arena license fees and other leasing revenue climbed 27% to $11.5 million. Food, beverage and merchandise sales rose 22% to $32.2 million, helped by stronger per-game spending at New York Knicks and New York Rangers games. When you're selling hot dogs and jerseys to thousands of fans, every little bit adds up.
The bottom line also improved significantly. The company's operating loss narrowed to $8.6 million from $25.8 million a year earlier. Adjusted operating income swung to a positive $18.6 million, compared with a $1.3 million adjusted operating loss in the year-ago quarter. Net loss shrank to $10 million from $27.2 million, and the per-share loss improved to 21 cents from 57 cents.
But the headline number here is bigger than just one quarter. For fiscal 2026, Madison Square Garden Entertainment's revenue grew 13% to $1.06 billion, crossing the $1 billion mark for the first time. Operating income rose 16% to $141.5 million, while adjusted operating income increased 18% to $262.2 million.
The company also shared some fun operational stats. It welcomed about 6.4 million guests across nearly 960 events during the year. The Christmas Spectacular, a holiday tradition at Radio City Music Hall, sold more than 1.2 million tickets across 215 paid performances and generated record revenue. That's a lot of Rockettes.
Cash flow is looking healthier too. Operating cash flow jumped to $351.4 million for fiscal 2026, up from $115.3 million the prior year. The company ended June with $294.2 million in cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash.
Executive Chairman and CEO James L. Dolan said demand for the company's live entertainment offerings remains strong, and he's optimistic about the year ahead. He said Madison Square Garden Entertainment expects "solid growth" in adjusted operating income in fiscal 2027.
As for the stock, shares were up 5.54% at $83.77 at the time of publication on Wednesday, trading at a new 52-week high. It seems investors are buying what Dolan is selling.
