Paramount Global missed revenue expectations for the fourth quarter on Wednesday but posted a surprise quarterly profit and posted strong results from its streaming platform Paramount+.
Here’s how Paramount performed within the fourth quarter in comparison with Wall Street estimates from LSEG, formerly often called Refinitiv:
- Earnings per share: 4 cents vs. an expected lack of 1 cent
- Revenue: $7.64 billion vs. $7.85 billion expected
For the last three months of 2023, Paramount reported a profit of $514 million, or 77 cents per share, up from $21 million, or 1 cent per share, the 12 months prior. Adjusted for one-time items, earnings per share were 4 cents for the period.
Paramount — home to brands comparable to CBS, Showtime, BET, Nickelodeon and its namesake movie studio — reported a 6% year-over-year revenue decline but posted notable strides in its streaming segment.
Paramount+, its flagship streaming service, reached 67.5 million subscribers throughout the period, a net increase of 4.1 million, and recorded 69% revenue growth 12 months over 12 months. The corporate expects to attain profitability for Paramount+ by 2025, it said Wednesday.
Subscription revenue within the fourth quarter grew 43%, partially driven by price increases, and revenue across its entire direct-to-consumer segment grew 34%.
Paramount saw a 27% jump in global viewing hours across Paramount+ and Pluto TV throughout the fourth quarter.
“Looking ahead, we proceed to be focused on maximizing the return on our content investments and scaling streaming, while transforming the price base of our business,” CEO Bob Bakish said in a press release. “And I could not be more thrilled with the early momentum we have had across every platform in 2024, demonstrating the facility of our strategy and assets.”
Paramount has been exploring sale options for all or parts of its business in recent months because the media landscape rapidly changes. Paramount has struggled and not using a solid growth narrative, with shares down greater than 50% over the past two years.
Warner Bros. Discovery had been in preliminary talks to amass Paramount, but those talks have since halted, CNBC’s Alex Sherman reported Tuesday.
Paramount announced about 800 layoffs earlier this month, only a day after the corporate revealed it had reached record viewership numbers for this 12 months’s Super Bowl.
The corporate on Wednesday reported its TV media revenue declined 12% 12 months over 12 months. Promoting revenue declined 15% because of overall “softness in the worldwide promoting market and 5-percentage point impact from lower political promoting,” in response to the earnings release.
Revenue in Paramount’s filmed entertainment sector sank 31% 12 months over 12 months, driven by lower licensing revenue.
This story is developing. Please check back for updates.
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