By George Glover

Paramount Global stock was sliding Thursday after a slowdown in TV advertising spending dragged the media and entertainment company to a surprise fourth-quarter loss.

Shares slipped 3.2% to $10.86 in premarket trading. Futures tracking the benchmark S&P 500 index climbed 0.6%.

The stock was falling after Paramount reported an adjusted loss of 11 cents a share for the three months ended Dec. 31, as revenue climbed 5% from a year ago to $7.98 billion. Analysts were expecting a profit of 13 cents a share on revenue of $8.10 billion, according to FactSet consensus estimates.

Revenue for the CBS and Nickelodeon owner's TV media division fell 4% from a year ago to $4.98 billion. That drop was driven by a decline in ad sales as companies cut back on marketing spending in a tough economic climate.

TV weakness overshadowed solid enough results for Paramount's streaming and movie businesses.

The number of subscribers to the Paramount+ streaming platform rose by 5.6 million to 77.5 million over the quarter, giving revenue for the segment a 16% boost. Revenue from its filmed entertainment unit, which includes Paramount Pictures, jumped 67% to $1.1 billion, driven by the box-office success of movies like Gladiator II and Sonic the Hedgehog 3.

"We are very encouraged by the streaming results, both on the top and bottom lines," Morningstar analyst Matthew Dolgin said. He has set a fair value estimate of $20 on the shares that implies the stock can climb 78% from its current level. "Management cited big strides in engagement among its Paramount+ subscribers, which should lead to stickiness and more advertising revenue opportunity."

Paramount also said that it expected to close its merger deal with David Ellison's Skydance Media over the first half of 2025.

Write to George Glover at george.glover@dowjones.com

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February 27, 2025 06:13 ET (11:13 GMT)

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