By George Glover
Warner Bros. Discovery posted a bigger loss than Wall Street was expecting Thursday, as a slump in advertising spending dragged on revenue for its TV networks.
But investors didn't appear too fazed by the media conglomerate's latest results, as executives doubled down on a plan to continue prioritizing streaming growth.
The company, which owns assets including the Warner Bros. film and TV studios and the premium TV channels HBO and Cinemax, reported a fourth-quarter loss of 20 cents a share ahead of the opening bell, as revenue slid 2% from a year ago to $10.03 billion. Analysts were expecting a loss of 2 cents a share on revenue of $10.23 billion, according to FactSet consensus estimates.
Revenue for the company's networks segment fell 5% from a year ago to $4.77 billion, dragged down by a decline in advertising sales and linear TV subscribers.
Warner Bros. shares were rising in Thursday's premarket despite the wider-than-expected loss. The stock climbed 1.4% to $10.65 ahead of the opening bell, compared with a 0.6% rise in futures tracking the benchmark S&P 500 index.
Streaming was one bright spot. Revenue for the direct-to-consumer segment, which includes the platforms Max and Discovery+, rose 5% from a year ago to $2.65 billion, and total subscriber numbers rose by 6.4 million to 116.9 million over the quarter ended Dec. 31.
Warner Bros. said in a letter to shareholders it sees "a clear path to reach at least 150 million global subscribers" by the end of 2026, highlighting initiatives including a deal that will make Max available to about 10 million Sky TV customers in the U.K. and Ireland.
The company also said it had implemented a corporate restructuring plan on Jan. 1, which created two distinct operating divisions: global linear networks, and streaming and studios. The stock surged 15% when the reorganization plan was announced in December, good enough for its biggest one-day gain in more than two years.
Write to George Glover at george.glover@dowjones.com
This content was created by Barron's, which is operated by Dow Jones & Co. Barron's is published independently from Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
February 27, 2025 07:57 ET (12:57 GMT)
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