AMC's streaming glow can't hide the drag

The good news: streaming is still doing the heavy lifting

AMC Networks kicked off 2026 with a classic mixed bag: revenue edged above Wall Street’s target, but profits got smacked around. The company brought in $542.13 million in Q1 revenue, down 2.4% from a year ago but just ahead of estimates, while adjusted EPS landed at 8 cents — way below the 21 cents analysts were looking for.

The not-so-good news: the old engine is still sputtering

The real headache is that the business pieces that used to do the heavy lifting are still shrinking:

• Domestic revenue slipped 3.2%
• Subscription revenue fell 2.6%
• Affiliate revenue dropped 16%
• Advertising revenue declined 5%

Streaming revenue did rise 11% to $174 million, but that wasn’t enough to fully cover the broader slide. Subscribers ended the quarter at 10.1 million, down from 10.2 million a year earlier. So yes, the streaming story is improving — just not fast enough to make the rest of the business look healthy.

Partnerships are the shiny distraction

AMC is trying to do the media-company version of “more outlets, more places to plug in.” It signed a long-term affiliation deal with DISH Network and Sling, expanded bundle distribution with Charter, Philo, and DirecTV, and announced a Meta partnership to bring AMC+ to Quest headsets later this year. That’s a lot of distribution churn, and investors usually like seeing companies get more ways to reach eyeballs.

Big picture: the pivot is real, but the pressure is too

Management reaffirmed full-year targets for about $2.25 billion in revenue, $350 million in adjusted operating income, and at least $200 million in free cash flow. That gives the stock a little runway, but the broader message is still clear: streaming is helping, ad trends are shaky, and legacy TV economics are acting like an anchor. The company’s transformation is ongoing — just not exactly a straight-line success story.