Wedbush Expects Weaker Earnings for National CineMedia

National CineMedia, Inc. (NASDAQ:NCMI) – Analysts at Wedbush cut their FY2025 EPS estimates for National CineMedia in a research report issued on Tuesday, October 28th. Wedbush analyst A. Reese now anticipates that the business services provider will post earnings of ($0.02) per share for the year, down from their prior estimate of $0.01. Wedbush has a “Outperform” rating and a $7.00 price objective on the stock. The consensus estimate for National CineMedia’s current full-year earnings is ($0.12) per share. Wedbush also issued estimates for National CineMedia’s Q4 2025 earnings at $0.36 EPS, Q1 2026 earnings at ($0.21) EPS, Q2 2026 earnings at ($0.06) EPS, Q3 2026 earnings at $0.05 EPS, Q4 2026 earnings at $0.36 EPS, FY2026 earnings at $0.14 EPS and FY2027 earnings at $0.19 EPS.

National CineMedia (NASDAQ:NCMI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 30th. The business services provider reported $0.02 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.03) by $0.05. The business had revenue of $63.40 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $64.23 million. National CineMedia had a negative net margin of 8.62% and a negative return on equity of 3.51%. National CineMedia has set its Q4 2025 guidance at EPS.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently commented on NCMI. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of National CineMedia in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Zacks Research lowered shares of National CineMedia from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Friday, October 17th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, National CineMedia currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $6.90.

National CineMedia Price Performance

Shares of National CineMedia stock opened at $4.04 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $378.63 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -19.24 and a beta of 1.90. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $4.45 and its 200-day moving average is $4.87. National CineMedia has a one year low of $4.03 and a one year high of $7.60.

Institutional Trading of National CineMedia

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in National CineMedia in the 1st quarter valued at $797,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its position in shares of National CineMedia by 64.1% in the first quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 165,237 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $965,000 after purchasing an additional 64,538 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of National CineMedia by 5.6% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,358,287 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $25,452,000 after purchasing an additional 232,702 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its position in shares of National CineMedia by 21.3% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 683,614 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,992,000 after purchasing an additional 120,079 shares during the period. Finally, XTX Topco Ltd bought a new position in shares of National CineMedia in the first quarter valued at about $142,000. Institutional investors own 69.49% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other National CineMedia news, EVP Maria Vg Woods sold 9,039 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $4.44, for a total value of $40,133.16. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 118,998 shares in the company, valued at $528,351.12. This represents a 7.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

National CineMedia Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 15th were issued a $0.03 dividend. This represents a $0.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 15th. National CineMedia’s dividend payout ratio is presently -57.14%.

About National CineMedia

National CineMedia, Inc, through its subsidiary, National CineMedia, LLC, operates cinema advertising network in North America. It engages in the sale of advertising to national, regional, and local businesses in Noovie, a cinema advertising and entertainment show seen on movie screens; and sells advertising on its Lobby Entertainment Network, a series of strategically-placed screens located in movie theater lobbies, as well as other forms of advertising and promotions in theatre lobbies.