What Happened?
Shares of media, broadcasting, and digital services company E.W. Scripps (NASDAQ: SSP) jumped 4.2% in the afternoon session after the company announced an agreement to sell WFTX, its Fox-affiliated television station in Fort Myers, Florida, for $40 million.
The buyer is Sun Broadcasting, a private broadcaster with a local focus in the Fort Myers-Naples market. Scripps has stated its intention to use the proceeds from the sale to pay down its debt, a move that would strengthen its financial position. According to President and CEO Adam Symson, the sale allows Scripps to improve its station portfolio's financial profile while placing WFTX with a locally-based owner. The transaction is anticipated to close in the fourth quarter of 2025, pending regulatory and other standard approvals.
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What Is The Market Telling Us
E.W. Scripps’s shares are extremely volatile and have had 88 moves greater than 5% over the last year. In that context, today’s move indicates the market considers this news meaningful but not something that would fundamentally change its perception of the business.
The previous big move we wrote about was 1 day ago when the stock dropped 2.5% on the news that the major indices continued to retreat (Nasdaq -1.5%, S&P 500 -1.2%) amid profit-taking and renewed concerns about tariffs. Investors reacted to a federal court ruling that most of President Trump's global tariffs were illegal, raising uncertainty over trade policy and the fiscal impact of potential refunds. Rising Treasury yields added to the pressure, with the 10-year climbing above 4.2% and the 30-year nearing 5%, intensifying worries about stretched equity valuations. September's historically weak track record for stocks further dampened sentiment, leaving traders cautious ahead of the jobs report later in the week and the Federal Reserve's upcoming rate decision.
E.W. Scripps is up 20.4% since the beginning of the year, but at $3.04 per share, it is still trading 26.9% below its 52-week high of $4.15 from July 2025. Investors who bought $1,000 worth of E.W. Scripps’s shares 5 years ago would now be looking at an investment worth $280.76.
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