Written by StockNews.com

CBS Corporation (NYSE:CBS) late Thursday posted market-beating first quarter earnings results, led by gains in its cable network and publishing segments.

The New York City-based media giant reported Q1:

• earnings per share (EPS) of $1.04, which was $0.09 better than the Wall Street consensus estimate of $0.95 [while]
• revenues fell 6.9% from last year to $3.34 billion but still beat analysts’ view for $3.29 billion.
  • Entertainment revenues fell 9%...
  • Cable Networks revenues gained 3%.
  • Publishing revenues jumped 11%, and finally,
  • Local Media revenues fell 9%.

Leslie Moonves, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, commented via press release:

“Our first-quarter results once again demonstrate the strength of our strategy, which is to diversify our revenue mix as we achieve our long-term financial goals.

Retransmission consent and reverse compensation led the way in Q1, growing 28%. This contributed to a 17% increase in our Company’s affiliate and subscription fee revenue, which also benefited from our over-the-top subscription services, CBS All Access and Showtime OTT.

In addition, we a had very solid quarter for content licensing and distribution, which was up 16% and is poised for continued strength when several of our hit series enter the syndication cycle later this year and we continue to add to our content pipeline all the time.”

CBS Corporation shares rose $0.71 (+1.11%) in after-hours trading Thursday. Year-to-date, CBS has gained 0.63%, versus a 7.28% rise in the benchmark S&P 500 index during the same period.

CBS currently has a StockNews.com POWR Rating of B (Buy), and is ranked #4 of 10 stocks in the Entertainment – Broadcasters category.