Earnings Report for Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) in Q2 of 2023

Warner Bros. Discovery has released its second-quarter results for the year, falling short of expectations and experiencing a decrease in subscriber numbers.

According to StreetAccount, global direct-to-consumer streaming subscribers at the end of the quarter were 95.8 million, below the anticipated 96.7 million subscribers. This marks a decline of nearly 2 million from the previous quarter.

The company introduced its combined Max streaming service during the second quarter, which merged HBO content with popular shows from the Discovery networks into a single platform.

The drop in subscribers is believed to be a result of customers switching from Discovery+ subscriptions to Max. Data provider Antenna estimated that Discovery+ cancellations increased by approximately 68% compared to June 2022 due to the migration to Max.

Despite the decline in subscribers, shares of Warner Bros. Discovery climbed around 4% in premarket trading as the company announced a tender offer to reduce its debt by up to $2.7 billion.

The company’s focus has been on paying off its substantial debt, which accumulated from the 2022 merger of Warner Bros. and Discovery, as it aims to regain investment grade status by the end of the year.

Here are the key figures reported by Warner Bros. Discovery for the quarter ended June 30, compared to analysts’ estimates:

• Loss per share: 51 cents vs. 38 cents expected
• Revenue: $10.36 billion vs. $10.44 billion expected

Warner Bros. Discovery recorded a net loss of $1.24 billion, or 51 cents per share, a significant improvement compared to a net loss of $3.42 billion, or $1.50 per share, in the same period last year.

Revenue of $10.36 billion represented a 5% year-over-year increase.

This story is developing. Please check back for updates.