Warner Bros. Discovery reported sales and profit that fell short of analysts’ expectations as the entertainment giant wrestled with lower TV ad sales and poor performance at its movie studios.
Sales at the Warner Bros. studios fell 12 per cent to $2.82 billion, the result of strikes that halted production last year and the comparatively weaker performance of the new Suicide Squad video game. Last year’s first quarter included strong numbers for Hogwarts Legacy, a Harry Potter-themed game. The company, the home of HBO and the Warner Bros. studios, has also decided to raise subscription prices as it seeks to reach $1 billion in earnings from the Max and Discovery+ streaming services next year, the people said. At the same time, Warner Bros. and Walt Disney are planning to sell their streaming services – Disney+, Hulu and Max – together in one bundle starting this summer in the US.
The streaming business, which includes the Max and Discovery+ services, reported earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation of $86 million, up 72 per cent from a year earlier. Total subscribers, at 99.6 million, beat the 98.9 million average of analysts’ forecasts. Advertising in that segment rose.