Start here if you're new
what it is
Salem sells Christian and conservative content through radio, websites, podcasts, and publishing to advertisers chasing that audience.
how it gets paid
Last year Salem Media made $238M in revenue. Radio broadcasting was the main engine at $123.8M, or 52% of sales.
what just happened
FY2024 finished with a -$0.47 EPS loss on $238 million of revenue.
At a glance
C++ balance sheet — some cracks in the foundation
10/100 earnings predictability — expect surprises
2.4% return on capital — nothing to write home about
-$0.47 fy2024 eps est
$238M fy2024 rev est
xvary composite: 25/100 — weak
What they do
Salem sells Christian and conservative content through radio, websites, podcasts, and publishing to advertisers chasing that audience.
Salem does not need to win everyone. It built a $238 million revenue business around one niche audience, then sells that audience across radio, digital media, and publishing. If your ad budget wants Christian and conservative listeners, fewer scaled options exist, and Salem still runs this with 1,260 employees.
How they make money
$238M
annual revenue
Radio broadcasting
$123.8M
Digital media
$66.6M
National networks and sales
$35.7M
Publishing
$11.9M
The products that matter
websites, streaming, and digital audience monetization
Digital Media
~$95M · largest revenue bucket shown here
This is about 40% of the $238M total shown on the page. If Salem is going to look less like old media and more like a viable audience platform, you should see it here first.
~40% of revenue
books, magazines, and audience monetization through publishing
Publishing
~$80M · about one-third of revenue
At roughly $80M, publishing is still too large to ignore. That's useful scale. It's also a reminder that a lot of this company still sits in categories that usually get harder, not easier, with time.
~33% of revenue
owned and operated stations
Radio Broadcasting
$63.5M in Q3 2023 · down 3.5% from Q2
Radio still matters enough to drag the whole story. That's the quiet part. If the legacy side keeps slipping, digital has to do more than grow. It has to grow fast enough to cover the decline and help narrow losses.
legacy drag
Key numbers
$47M
long-term debt
That debt load matters because it is almost three times Salem's roughly $16 million market cap.
75%
debt to capital
Debt to capital means how much of the business is financed by borrowing, and 75% leaves little cushion if profits slip.
$238M
2024 revenue
Revenue tells you the scale of the audience business. Salem still reaches enough listeners and readers to produce $238 million in annual sales.
-$0.47
2024 EPS
EPS means profit per share. Negative $0.47 means the company lost money for shareholders in 2024.
Financial health
C++
strength
- balance sheet grade C++ — below average — limited financial resources
- risk rank 5 — safer than 5% of stocks
- price stability 5 / 100
- long-term debt $47M (75% 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 SALM right now.
source: institutional data · return history unavailable
What just happened
loss year
FY2024 finished with a -$0.47 EPS loss on $238 million of revenue.
Quarterly EPS stayed messy in 2024: -$0.19, $0.08, -$0.24, and -$0.12. Operating margin was only 2.5%, so one weak quarter can flip the whole year red.
$238M
revenue
-$0.47
fy2024 eps
2.5%
operating margin
the number that mattered
The number that matters is 2.5%. That is the operating margin, which is plain English for how little profit Salem keeps from each sales dollar.
source: company results and SEC filings, 2024
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What could go wrong
the #1 risk is legacy revenue erosion outrunning the digital pivot while debt stays fixed. if you are looking for the clean turnaround version of this story, the current numbers do not show it yet.
med
radio and publishing keep shrinking faster than digital can cover
Revenue fell from $267M to $238M in two years based on the figures already on this page. That's not a one-quarter wobble. That is the base-rate risk in the business you own.
If that slide continues, the equity keeps taking the hit first because debt sits ahead of common shareholders.
med
$47M of debt leaves little room for another weak stretch
Long-term debt equals 75% of capital while profit margin sits at -16.27%. In human-speak: the company is not generating the kind of earnings that make debt feel routine.
Refinancing pressure, tighter terms, or asset sales would matter a lot when the market cap is only about $16M.
med
headline partnerships create attention before they create economics
The Trump Jr. partnership and Charlie Kirk leadership move may help audience reach. But this is still a company with 10/100 earnings predictability and 5 / 100 price stability. Storytelling arrives faster than cash flow.
If the new strategy lifts attention but not monetization, investors are left with a noisier version of the same weak operating profile.
A -16.27% profit margin on a $238M revenue base, plus $47M in long-term debt, means even modest operating misses can have outsized consequences for you as a common shareholder.
source: institutional data · regulatory filings · risk analysis
Pay attention to
metric
profit margin moving up from -16.27%
This is the number that matters. If losses do not narrow, none of the turnaround language changes the fact pattern. If you want one kill criterion, start here.
calendar
next earnings report on march 16, 2026
You want simple proof: either revenue stabilizes, or management shows the losses are narrowing. Ideally both. Hope without either is not a thesis.
trend
digital revenue holding its lead and doing more than just holding
Digital is roughly $95M, the largest bucket shown here. The catch is that being largest is not enough. It needs to offset pressure elsewhere and help the margin line move.
risk
debt terms and liquidity pressure
With $47M of long-term debt and a C++ balance sheet, funding terms matter. Small companies rarely get gifted another bad year.
Analyst rankings
earnings predictability
10 / 100
This sits near the bottom of the scale. in human-speak, analysts do not trust the earnings pattern to stay steady enough for easy underwriting.
price stability
5 / 100
A 5 / 100 stability score means the stock tends to trade like a stressed microcap. If you own it, you should expect gaps, not graceful moves.
source: institutional data
Institutional activity
institutional ownership data for SALM is being compiled.
source: institutional data
Price targets
3-5 year target range
n/a
n/a
$0
current price
n/a
target midpoint · n/a from current
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