Vancouver-based Thunderbird Entertainment Group saw its revenue increase 36% year-over-year for Q1 2025.

The three-month period, ending Sept. 30, saw the company bring in $45.7 million compared to the $33.6 million Thunderbird brought in the previous Q1. Thunderbird attributes the growth to an increase of service work in the quarter.

Thunderbird’s animation division, Atomic Cartoons, saw a $4.4 million year-over-year increase in revenue, representing 14% growth. Unscripted and scripted production services contributed $9.6 million of revenue in the quarter. The prior Q1, Thunderbird was not working on any unscripted or scripted production engagements, according to Thunderbird’s CFO Simon Bodymore in a Nov. 21 earnings call.

Most of Thunderbird’s revenue is attributed to production services with that stream bringing in $44.5 million in revenue during the quarter. That represents an increase of about $14 million from the $30.5 million from production services the previous Q1.

Licensing and distribution revenue decreased by 61% ($1.9 million) for the three months ended September 30, 2024 over the comparative quarter. The decline can primarily be attributed to no IP projects delivered during the quarter.

In the current quarter, revenue was recognized from distribution contracts for Mittens & Pants (seasons one and two) and BooSnoo! (seasons one and two). In the comparative quarter, revenue was recognized from the delivery of 10 episodes of the unscripted series Highway Thru Hell (Season 12). Season 13 of Highway Thru Hell is currently expected to generate revenue later in the fiscal year.

For the three month period, Thunderbird had a net income of $1.6 million, which is a $2.3 million increase from the $700,000 loss reported in 2024’s Q1. The company attributed this to an increase in revenue as well as cutting costs. This Q1 represents the fourth straight quarter of positive earnings for the company.

“Management has worked hard to streamline costs and increase efficiencies wherever possible over the past year with the intent of returning the company to profitability on a consistent basis,” said Bodymore in the earnings call.

Thunderbird reported a 64% year-over-year increase in adjusted EBITDA at $4.1 million compared to the previous Q1 with $2.5 million.

The company has no corporate debt and reported a free cash flow of $9.7 million for the quarter, which marks an increase of $12.1 million from the $2.4 million loss in the prior Q1.

“The oversupply of content in the market is starting to rectify with a number of companies unfortunately announcing that they were ceasing operations or restructuring,” said CEO and chair Jennifer Twiner McCarron on the call. “While we never like to see other companies fail, the rebalance strengthens Thunderbird’s market position.”

Twiner McCarron also warned that negotiations between the Animation Guild and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers may delay production greenlights, potentially impacting some of Thunderbird’s timelines and forecasts.

In October, Thunderbird’s board announced that they were no longer actively looking to sell the company.

Thunderbird had 25 projects in various stages of production during its Q1 2025. They include the Atomic Cartoons original Mermicorno: Starfall (pictured) and the scripted project Sidelined: The QB and Me from subsidiary Great Pacific Media.

Image courtesy of Thunderbird Entertainment Group