Warner Bros. Discovery earnings: Stock rises amid streaming strength as studios, linear TV pressure revenue
11/07/2024 19:48
Warner Bros. Discovery will report third quarter earnings before the bell on Thursday. Here's what to expect.
Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) stock rose over 1% in premarket trading on Thursday after the company reported strong streaming results in the third quarter. But revenue missed expectations as the media giant struggled with a drop in its studios segment and continued declines from its linear TV business.
Revenue came in at $9.62 billion, missing Bloomberg consensus expectations of $9.81 billion and a 3% drop compared to the $9.98 billion seen in Q3 2023.
The company reported adjusted earnings per share of $0.05 versus a loss of $0.17 in the year-earlier period. Consensus expectations had anticipated a loss closer to $0.09 a share.
In the second quarter, WBD took a massive $9.1 billion impairment charge related to its TV networks unit following the loss of its key NBA media rights. The company is currently tied up in litigation after suing the NBA in July, citing the "unjustified rejection" of its matching rights proposal.
The company has struggled in recent quarters, with profits hit by a weak linear advertising environment and pressure on affiliate fees, or the fees pay TV providers pay to network owners to carry their channels.
To that end, the company's networks segment continued to struggle with advertising revenue in the unit plummeting 13% year over year after it dropped 10% in the second quarter and 11% in Q1.
Analysts polled by Bloomberg had anticipated a more modest drop of 7%.
The loss of the NBA rights has further steepened those challenges, with Deutsche Bank projecting a potential hit of $560 million to total affiliate revenue in 2026 as a result.
But a recent carriage renewal deal with Charter Communications, which included WBD's Max streaming service as part of the package, should help stem some of the bleeding.
"If WBD's renewal with CHTR can be replicated in coming deals, we believe it would be a big improvement versus expectations," BofA's Reif Ehrlich said ahead of the report.
Still, it might be a tall order, as Deutsche Bank warned the company's "upcoming batch of renewals in 2025 are with providers that haven't necessarily shown the same proclivity to include streaming products in their video packages," as Charter has demonstrated.
Meanwhile, the company's studios segment saw revenue plummet 17% year over year, "primarily driven by lower box office revenue as the performance of 'Beetlejuice Beetlejuice' and 'Twisters' in the current year was more than offset by the stronger performance of 'Barbie' in the prior year."
Streaming served as bright spot in the quarter with 7.2 million subscribers added, a beat compared to estimates of a 6.1 million net increase. The additions were also ahead of the 700,000 subscriber loss the company reported in the year-earlier period.
The subscriber strength comes amid the recent launch of Max in markets outside of the US, including Latin America and Europe, along with increased bundling with competitors. Key programming, like the second season of "House of the Dragon," along with the Olympics, also helped boost the metric.
Outside of strong subscribers, the company saw a 49% year-over-year jump in streaming advertising revenue.
Separately, the division posted profits of $289 million in the quarter compared to the $111 million it reported in Q3 2023. Recent price hikes have helped aid profits. The company boosted the price of its ad-free plans on Max in June.
The company also has its upcoming sports streaming partnership with Disney (DIS) and Fox (FOXA), although a judge temporarily blocked the launch, citing antitrust concerns.
Overall, it remains an uphill battle for WBD stock, with shares down over 25% since the start of the year.
Full-year adjusted EBITDA remains at risk of falling to $9 billion, according to the latest Bloomberg estimates. That's $5 billion below what analysts had expected at the time of its merger.
Rumors have swirled about the company's next move. Bank of America analysts recently laid out possible strategic options that could include a split of the company's digital streaming and studio businesses from its legacy linear TV unit.
Comcast said last week that it's exploring a similar concept and might spin off its cable networks into a separate company in order to "play offense" amid recent industry turmoil.
In the meantime, the company has committed to aggressive cost cuts, which have helped boost free cash flow. This past summer, the company reportedly laid off about another 1,000 employees across multiple business sectors after it eliminated the positions of around 100 employees at its CNN network.
Alexandra Canal is a Senior Reporter at Yahoo Finance. Follow her on X @allie_canal, LinkedIn, and email her at [email protected].
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