Grupo Televisa, S.A.B. (TV) Past Performance Analysis (2026)

Executive Summary

Grupo Televisa's past performance has been poor, marked by declining revenues, volatile profitability, and significant shareholder losses. Over the last five years, revenue has shrunk from over MXN 70B to MXN 62B, and the company has posted net losses in three of those years. The stock price has collapsed by over 75% during this period, reflecting deep operational challenges and intense competition from stronger rivals like América Móvil and Megacable. While the company has maintained a small dividend, its performance has been highly inconsistent and unreliable. The investor takeaway is decidedly negative, as the historical record shows a business in a prolonged state of decline.

Comprehensive Analysis

An analysis of Grupo Televisa's past performance over the last five fiscal years (FY2020–FY2024) reveals a company facing significant headwinds and demonstrating considerable financial volatility. The period has been characterized by a clear erosion of its top-line revenue, inconsistent profitability that has turned into substantial losses, and unpredictable cash flow generation. Strategic shifts, including the major merger of its content division with Univision, have reshaped the company but have not reversed the negative trends in its core financial metrics, making its historical record a cause for concern for potential investors.

Looking at growth and profitability, the picture is bleak. Revenue declined from MXN 70,680 million in FY2020 to MXN 62,261 million in FY2024, a clear sign of competitive pressure and secular challenges, particularly in its satellite TV business. Profitability has been even more unstable. Operating margins have compressed dramatically, falling from 8.56% in FY2020 to a negative -1.8% in FY2024. Net income has been erratic, swinging from a large profit in FY2022 (driven by discontinued operations) to significant losses of MXN -8,423 million in FY2023 and MXN -8,266 million in FY2024. This performance contrasts sharply with more stable and profitable peers like Megacable, which consistently reports superior margins.

From a cash flow and shareholder return perspective, Televisa's record is equally troubling. Free cash flow (FCF) has been extremely unpredictable, ranging from a strong MXN 13,029 million in FY2020 to a negative MXN -4,848 million in FY2022, before a surprising spike in FY2024. This volatility makes it difficult to rely on the company's ability to consistently generate cash. For shareholders, the past five years have been disastrous. The stock price has plummeted from over MXN 6.5 to around MXN 1.6, erasing a massive amount of market value. While the company has consistently paid a small dividend and bought back some shares, these actions have been inconsequential in the face of such a severe capital depreciation. This track record stands in stark contrast to more resilient competitors like América Móvil, which have offered investors greater stability and better capital preservation.

Factor Analysis

Historical Profitability And Margin Trend

Fail

Profitability has severely deteriorated over the past five years, with operating and net margins collapsing into negative territory amid intense competition.

Grupo Televisa's historical profitability shows a clear and concerning downward trend. The company's operating margin has declined from a modest 8.56% in FY2020 to a negative -1.8% by FY2024, indicating a fundamental inability to manage costs relative to its shrinking revenue base. Net profit margins have been even more volatile and have resulted in significant losses in recent years, including MXN -8.4 billion in FY2023 and MXN -8.3 billion in FY2024. The only recent year with a large reported profit, FY2022, was due to a one-time gain from discontinued operations related to the Univision merger, not from core business strength.

This performance is weak compared to its key competitors. For example, focused cable operator Megacable consistently reports industry-leading EBITDA margins above 45%, while the regional telecom giant América Móvil maintains stable EBITDA margins around 37%. Televisa's inability to maintain profitability and its highly volatile earnings, with EPS swinging wildly year-to-year, demonstrate a lack of pricing power and operational control, making its earnings history a significant red flag.

Historical Free Cash Flow Performance

Fail

The company's free cash flow has been extremely volatile and unpredictable, swinging from strongly positive to negative, making it an unreliable indicator of underlying financial health.

For a capital-intensive telecom company, consistent free cash flow (FCF) is critical. Televisa's record here is poor. Over the last five years, FCF has been a rollercoaster: MXN 13.0 billion in FY2020, MXN 6.1 billion in FY2021, a negative MXN -4.8 billion in FY2022, a meager MXN 493 million in FY2023, and a sudden surge to MXN 23.5 billion in FY2024. This extreme inconsistency makes it difficult for investors to have confidence in the company's ability to self-fund its investments, pay down debt, or reliably return capital to shareholders.

The large positive FCF in FY2024 appears to be driven by working capital changes and other non-core adjustments rather than a sustainable improvement in operations. This unpredictability is a sign of weakness compared to peers like América Móvil, which is described as a 'free cash flow powerhouse' capable of funding heavy capital expenditures while rewarding shareholders. Televisa's erratic cash generation fails to demonstrate the operational discipline expected of a mature company.

Past Revenue And Subscriber Growth

Fail

Revenue has been in a steady decline over the past several years, reflecting the company's struggle to compete and the secular decline in its legacy businesses.

Grupo Televisa's top-line performance shows a clear negative trend. After a slight uptick in FY2021, annual revenue has consistently fallen, dropping from MXN 73,915 million in FY2021 to MXN 62,261 million in FY2024. This represents a decline of nearly 16% in just three years, a significant contraction that points to a loss of market share and pricing power. The decline reflects pressures in both its cable and satellite segments, where it faces fierce competition from technologically superior or larger-scale rivals.

While specific subscriber data is not provided here, the revenue trend is a direct reflection of the competitive environment described in the peer analysis. Aggressive, fiber-focused players like Megacable and Total Play have been growing rapidly, likely at Televisa's expense. The company's inability to grow, or even maintain, its revenue base is a fundamental failure of past performance and execution.

Stock Volatility Vs. Competitors

Fail

The stock has been extremely volatile and has experienced a catastrophic, prolonged decline, performing significantly worse than its more stable industry peers.

Televisa's stock has been a poor investment from a risk and return perspective. Its beta of 1.67 indicates it is significantly more volatile than the broader market, meaning its price swings are more dramatic. Unfortunately for investors, these swings have been overwhelmingly negative. The last close price noted in the data has fallen from 6.51 at the end of FY2020 to 1.61 at the end of FY2024, a devastating decline of over 75%.

This performance highlights the market's lack of confidence in the company's strategy and financial health. This level of volatility and negative return is far worse than that of its primary competitor, América Móvil, which is noted for its relative stability. High volatility combined with a deeply negative trend is a clear indicator of a high-risk investment that has not rewarded shareholders for the risks taken.

Shareholder Returns And Payout History

Fail

Total shareholder return has been deeply negative due to a massive collapse in the stock price that has completely overwhelmed any returns from dividends or buybacks.

Total Shareholder Return (TSR) combines stock price changes and dividends to show an investment's total performance. For Televisa, this picture is grim. The dominant factor in its TSR has been the collapse of its stock price, which has destroyed billions in shareholder value. Over the last five years, the stock has lost the vast majority of its value, a fact that no dividend policy could meaningfully offset.

The company has paid a consistent dividend per share of MXN 0.35, which, while commendable for its consistency, is trivial compared to the capital losses. The company has also engaged in share buybacks, as evidenced by a generally decreasing share count. However, these buybacks have not stopped the stock's freefall, and an argument could be made that capital might have been better used to pay down debt or invest more aggressively in network upgrades. Ultimately, the past performance for shareholders has been one of significant and sustained wealth destruction.