News Corporation - NWSA STOCK NEWS

Realtor.com's annual Best Time to Buy Report identifies September 29 - October 5, 2024 as the optimal week for homebuyers. During this period, buyers could potentially save over $14,000 compared to summer peak prices and see up to 37% more active listings than at the year's start. The report analyzes key market metrics including listing prices, inventory levels, new listings, time on market, buyer demand, and price reductions.

Key benefits of buying during this week include:

• Savings relative to summer's peak price of $445,000
• Increased inventory compared to early 2024
• Homes staying on the market for over two weeks longer than peak periods
• 29.5% lower demand than peak buying periods

The report suggests that falling mortgage rates and increased inventory make fall 2024 an attractive time for potential buyers to enter the market.

News Corp (NWS) has received a non-binding stockholder proposal to eliminate its dual-class capital structure at the 2024 Annual Meeting. The Board believes the current structure has promoted stability and facilitated successful strategy implementation, leading to long-term outperformance for all stockholders. Despite digital revolution challenges, News Corp has transformed its revenue and earnings base through digital reinvestment, strategic acquisitions, and cost management initiatives. The company has also secured multi-year content licensing deals with major tech platforms, creating new revenue streams and growth opportunities in the AI age. Over the past five years, News Corp's stock price has outperformed both the S&P 500 and its peer group. Stockholders are not required to take action at this time, and the company will file preliminary materials for the 2024 Annual Meeting with the SEC in due course.

Starboard Value LP, a significant shareholder of News (NWS), has issued a letter to shareholders proposing the elimination of the company's dual-class share structure at the 2024 Annual Meeting. Starboard argues that News Corp suffers from poor corporate governance, which has exacerbated its valuation discount. The letter criticizes the extension of super-voting rights to the Murdoch family inheritors, stating there are no reasonable arguments for this practice.

Key points:

• Starboard believes News Corp has an opportunity for significant shareholder value creation
• The Murdoch family's economic ownership in News Corp is approximately 14%, controlling 41% of the vote
• Previous proposals to eliminate the dual-class structure were supported by nearly 90% of unaffiliated shareholders
• Starboard plans to file a proxy statement with additional details

Realtor.com® has launched Renovation Designer, a generative AI design tool powered by Hover. This innovative feature allows homeowners to visualize realistic exterior and interior home renovations before investing time and money. Users can access the tool by claiming their home within My Home on Realtor.com® and uploading photos of their property.

Key features include:

• Instant project visualization for easy decision-making
• Extensive design options with realistic representations
• User-friendly interface with professional-grade visualizations

Realtor.com's August Housing Report reveals significant changes in the U.S. housing market. Active inventory grew by 35.8% year-over-year, marking the 10th consecutive month of growth. However, new listings decreased by 0.9% compared to last year. The median list price fell 1.3% to $429,990, while the median price per square foot increased by 2.3%. Homes spent an average of 53 days on the market, the slowest August in five years.

Notable trends include:

• Inventory growth was highest in the $200,000 to $350,000 range
• Price reductions increased to 19.2% of listings
• The South and West regions are closest to pre-pandemic inventory levels
• Tampa, San Diego, and Orlando saw the highest inventory growth

These trends suggest a shift towards a more balanced market between buyers and sellers, with falling mortgage rates potentially leading to increased activity in the coming months.

News Corp announced that Move, Inc., the operator of Realtor.com®, will participate in the Goldman Sachs Communacopia + Technology Conference on Monday, September 9, 2024. CEO Damian Eales will represent Move, Inc. during the event. The session is scheduled to start at 4:45 PM EDT (1:45 PM PDT).

Interested parties can listen to the live webcast by visiting the News Corp website at https://investors.newscorp.com/calendar-events. A replay of the webcast will be available at the same location for a time after the conference.

Dow Jones has announced the creation of the Dow Jones Leadership Institute, a new commercial venture focused on executive learning and leadership, set to launch in 2025. The Institute will be led by Alan Murray, former CEO of Fortune Media and long-time veteran of The Wall Street Journal.

The Institute aims to provide real-time resources for business leaders navigating transformative technologies, energy transition, geopolitical conflicts, and political tumult. It will build on existing efforts such as The Wall Street Journal CEO Council and other executive networks to offer peer-to-peer learning, real-time data analysis, thought leadership, and executive education.

Murray joins Dow Jones after a successful tenure at Fortune Media, where he expanded digital and conference franchises. The Institute's goal is to help leaders profitably solve problems of people and planet while creating value for the future.

Realtor.com® has released its 2024 Hottest ZIP Codes Report, with Gahanna, Ohio (43230) taking the top spot for the second consecutive year. The report highlights that the Midwest and Northeast dominate this year's list, reflecting a focus on affordability and value in larger metros. Key findings include:

1. Seven of the top 10 ZIPs are in the Northeast, with three in Massachusetts.
2. Midwest holds three spots, including Columbus, Ohio, which has been on the list since 2017.
3. Southern and Western regions are not represented this year.
4. Top ZIPs offer lower median list prices compared to national and metro averages.
5. Homes in these ZIPs spent an average of 13 days on the market, 32 days less than the national median.
6. Buyers in these areas have higher average credit scores (757) and down payments (16.7%) compared to national averages.

Realtor.com®'s July Rental Report reveals that renting remains more affordable than buying in all 50 largest U.S. metros, a trend continuing since February. Elevated mortgage rates and high home prices contribute to over $1,000 in monthly savings by renting. The top metros with the highest rent-to-buy savings are Austin, TX, Seattle, WA, and Los Angeles, CA, with monthly savings of $2,120, $2,222, and $2,784, respectively. Despite overall rent declines for 12 consecutive months, the advantage of renting over buying is shrinking in some areas due to increasing affordable inventory. The report highlights that the monthly cost of buying a starter home is 61.3% higher than renting. However, this trend may change as affordable inventory continues to increase, easing the financial burden on first-time homebuyers.