Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) will report first-quarter earnings before the bell on Thursday as the media giant works to pare down its debt amid a declining linear TV business and an unfavorable ad market. Investors will also closely be watching for any updates on NBA media rights after a Wall Street Journal report said the company is at risk of losing those rights to competitor NBCUniversal (CMCSA).
On Monday, WBD CEO David Zaslav did not elaborate on the status on ongoing talks while speaking at the annual Milken Institute conference in Beverly Hills.
“We continue to be in constructive negotiations with the NBA,” he said. “It’s a great league. The TNT team does a terrific job. And we love the NBA.”
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. That’s likely to impact first quarter EBITDA with full-year adjusted EBTIDA at risk of falling below $10 billion, according to the latest Bloomberg estimates. That’s $4 billion below what analysts had expected at the time of its merger.
Here’s what Wall Street expects for the first quarter, according to Bloomberg estimates:
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Revenue: $10.27 billion versus $10.70 billion in Q1 2023
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Adj. loss per share: -$0.24 versus -$0.44 in Q1 2023
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Subscriber net additions: 1.25 million versus 1.6 million in Q1 2023
“WBD has an important year ahead, and 1Q probably will not be a good start,” Macquarie analyst Tim Nollen wrote in a note to clients ahead of the results.
Still, the analyst said the company has some momentum with its upcoming sports streaming partnership with Disney (DIS) and Fox (FOXA), along with its Max streaming service recently launching in markets outside of the US, including Latin America and Europe.
In February, the company revealed its direct-to-consumer streaming unit turned a profit for full-year 2023, posting $103 million in EBITDA compared with a loss of about $2.1 billion in full-year 2022.
The company is reportedly aiming for more cost cuts and further streaming price hikes. According to Bloomberg, cost-cutting plans could include layoffs after WBD slashed 2,000 jobs over the past year. The company did not immediately respond to Yahoo Finance’s request for comment.
