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what it is
IHeart sells your attention across radio, podcasts, events, and ad-tech services.
how it gets paid
Last year Iheartmedia made $3.9B in revenue. broadcast radio advertising was the main engine at $1.95B, or 50% of sales.
why it's growing
Revenue grew 0.3% last year. Yahoo consensus shows a 20.0% negative earnings surprise.
what just happened
Latest reported EPS came in at -$0.27 versus a $0.30 estimate, while revenue was about $2.7B.
At a glance
C balance sheet — red flag territory — real financial stress
20/100 earnings predictability — expect surprises
0.1% return on capital — nothing to write home about
-$1.75 fy2024 eps est
$4B fy2024 rev est
xvary composite: 25/100 — weak
What they do
iHeart sells your attention across radio, podcasts, events, and ad-tech services.
iHeart wins on reach, not elegance. It produced about $4.0 billion of 2024 revenue across broadcast radio, podcasting, events, and ad-sales services, which lets it offer advertisers one bundled buy instead of several smaller ones. Scale (lots of audience and ad slots to sell) → plain English: more inventory in more formats → so what: if your brand wants national audio exposure fast, iHeart is still one of the few places you can get it in one call.
How they make money
$3.9B
annual revenue · their business grew +0.3% last year
broadcast radio advertising
$1.95B
networks advertising
$0.58B
sponsorships and events
$0.20B
digital audio and podcasting
$0.72B
katz media and software services
$0.45B
The products that matter
broadcast advertising network
Multiplatform Group
$3.0B · 77% of revenue
it's the core business at $3.0B, and it still pays most of the bills. the problem is simple: it declined 1.6% last year, so the largest segment is shrinking.
legacy engine
digital audio and ad services
Audio & Media Services
$0.9B · 23% of revenue
this $0.9B segment grew 7.7% last year. that's the good news. the less good news is that it's still too small to fully offset declines in the radio-heavy side.
growth engine
Key numbers
$5.7B
long-term debt
Debt → money owed for years → so what: it is about 14 times the roughly $402M market cap, so creditors matter more than common shareholders.
0.5%
operating margin
Operating margin → profit from the business before interest and taxes → so what: on $4.0B of revenue, the core operation is barely above water.
$4.0B
2024 revenue
Revenue → total sales → so what: iHeart is still a very large media platform, just one with very weak economics.
0.1%
return on capital
Return on capital → profit from money invested in the business → so what: this is basically no return for the risk you're taking.
Financial health
C
strength
- balance sheet grade C — very weak — significant financial distress
- risk rank 5 — safer than 5% of stocks
- price stability 5 / 100
- long-term debt $5.7B (93% of capital)
C — balance sheet grade and long-term debt are flagged. this stock carries more risk than average.
Total return vs. market
Return history isn't available for IHRT right now.
source: institutional data · return history unavailable
What just happened
missed estimates
Latest reported EPS came in at -$0.27 versus a $0.30 estimate, while revenue was about $2.7B.
Yahoo consensus shows a 20.0% negative earnings surprise. EDGAR-backed figures show annual revenue at $3.9B, up just 0.3% vs. prior year, so this was not a growth story hiding under the miss.
$2.7B
revenue
$0.27
eps
n/a
n/a
the number that mattered
The number that mattered was the 20.0% EPS miss, because highly levered companies do not get much forgiveness when profits disappoint.
source: company earnings report, 2026
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What could go wrong
the #1 risk is refinancing $5.7B of debt against a $402M equity base.
med
Debt maturities and refinancing
$5.7B of long-term debt is the dominant fact here, and management faces maturities in 2026. If refinancing costs rise or access tightens, equity holders feel it first.
Debt is roughly 14x the market cap. That leaves very little room for a normal operating stumble.
med
Secular decline in broadcast radio
The Multiplatform Group produced $3.0B last year, or 77% of revenue, and it still declined 1.6%. A shrinking core business makes deleveraging harder every quarter it continues.
When 77% of revenue moves backward and 23% moves forward, the headline growth story stays fragile.
med
Cost-cut plan misses the target
Management is counting on $100M in new savings for 2026 after $150M in 2025. That is a big ask when the core segment's margin already fell 310 basis points in Q4.
Missing the savings plan would put the $800M adjusted EBITDA target at risk and extend the path to profitability beyond 2028.
A forced refinance or continued weakness in the $3.0B core segment would hit a company that already has only a $402M equity cushion. The $0.9B digital segment is growing, but it is still too small to bail out the balance sheet on its own.
source: institutional data · regulatory filings · risk analysis
Pay attention to
risk
2026 debt wall
Refinancing is the event risk. A company with $5.7B of debt and a $402M market cap does not get the luxury of boring capital markets.
metric
Multiplatform revenue trend
The core segment fell 1.6% last year. If that decline accelerates, the digital growth story stops mattering as much as people want it to.
calendar
$800M adjusted EBITDA target for 2026
Management put a number on the comeback. That gives you a scoreboard, which is more useful than optimism.
trend
Digital mix versus legacy drag
Audio & Media Services grew 7.7% to $0.9B. You want to see that gap widen faster than the legacy side weakens.
Analyst rankings
earnings predictability
20 / 100
Earnings predictability: 20/100. In human-speak, analysts do not trust this company to produce smooth quarters.
risk rank
5
Risk rank: 5. That means it looks safer than only 5% of stocks in the coverage universe. You are not buying stability here.
price stability
5 / 100
Price stability: 5/100. The tape reflects a balance-sheet story, not a calm operating business.
source: institutional data
Institutional activity
institutional ownership data for IHRT is being compiled.
source: institutional data
Price targets
3-5 year target range
n/a
n/a
$4
current price
n/a
target midpoint · n/a from current
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