Latest news with #WarnerBros.Discovery
Yahoo
a day ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Should You Hold on to WBD Stock Despite its 5% Dip in YTD?
Warner Bros. Discovery WBD shares have lost 5% year to date, significantly underperforming the Zacks Consumer Discretionary sector's 25.1% growth and entertainment peers like Disney DIS, Paramount Global PARA and Netflix's NFLX return of 0.6%, 16.4% and 32.9%, respectively. This underperformance reflects investor concerns about the company's transformation amid a challenging media landscape, despite notable operational improvements in the first quarter of 2025. WBD's streaming business delivered encouraging results in the first quarter, adding 5.3 million subscribers to reach 122.3 million globally. The segment generated $339 million in adjusted EBITDA, positioning the company firmly on track to achieve at least $1.3 billion in streaming EBITDA for 2025. Max's content strategy continues resonating with audiences, evidenced by The White Lotus season three averaging more than 25 million global viewers per episode and The Pitt's successful debut with 12 million worldwide viewers across 15 episodes. Recent announcements highlight continued momentum, with The Last of Us attracting more than 90 million global viewers since season one concluded. The Studios segment showed resilience despite a lighter theatrical slate, with first-quarter adjusted EBITDA increasing 63% year over year to $259 million. A Minecraft Movie's success, grossing nearly $900 million globally, and Sinners' strong commercial and critical reception demonstrate the studio's content capabilities. However, the Global Linear Networks segment continues facing headwinds, with revenues declining 6% year over year due to continued cord-cutting pressures and domestic advertising challenges. Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. price-consensus-chart | Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. Quote WBD's robust content pipeline supports medium-term growth prospects. The highly anticipated Superman film will arrive on July 11, following strong trailer reception with more than 250 million views. Warner Bros. Television secured multiple renewals and new orders, including The Pitt season two and continued success with Abbott Elementary and The Voice. The upcoming Harry Potter series, scheduled for early 2027, represents a significant franchise opportunity for Max's subscriber product launches, including the Extra Member Add-On feature and Profile Transfer capabilities for Max, address password sharing while providing revenue upside. The WBD Storyverse advertising initiative and new solutions like NEO and DemoDirect aim to enhance advertiser value propositions amid challenging linear advertising markets. The company maintained its 3.8x net leverage ratio while repaying $2.2 billion in debt during the first quarter. With $4.0 billion cash on hand and $38.0 billion gross debt, WBD continues targeting 2.5-3x gross leverage. Free cash flow of $302 million in the first quarter, typically the seasonally weakest quarter, demonstrates improving cash generation capabilities. However, the elevated debt burden remains a concern for investors seeking growth acceleration. WBD merits a Hold rating despite the YTD decline. While streaming momentum and content quality improvements are encouraging, the company faces continued linear television headwinds and elevated leverage constraints. The stock's underperformance creates potential value opportunities, but investors should await clearer evidence of sustainable streaming profitability growth and debt reduction progress. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for WBD's 2025 revenues is pegged at $37.8 billion, indicating a decline of 3.88% on a year-over-year basis. The consensus mark is pegged at a loss of 16 cents per share, narrower than the loss of $4.62 in the year-ago the Zacks Earnings Calendar to stay ahead of market-making shareholders should maintain positions, while prospective investors might consider waiting for a more attractive entry point below current levels before initiating positions. WBD carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today's Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here. Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report Netflix, Inc. (NFLX) : Free Stock Analysis Report The Walt Disney Company (DIS) : Free Stock Analysis Report Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. (WBD) : Free Stock Analysis Report Paramount Global (PARA) : Free Stock Analysis Report This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research ( Zacks Investment Research Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
a day ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Why Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. (WBD) Soared On Wednesday
We recently published a list of . In this article, we are going to take a look at where Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBD) stands against other best-performing stocks. Warner Bros grew by 4.92 percent on Wednesday to close at $10.02 apiece as investor sentiment was buoyed by news that CNN's chief operating officer, David Leavy, will return to the entertainment media giant. According to a letter to CNN employees, Leavy, a long time key executive of Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBD), is set to leave his current chief operating officer role at CNN. He was praised for his 'brilliant job stabilizing the company (CNN) at a difficult moment.' A movie theater auditorium filled with an audience enjoying a blockbuster film. 'During the transition, he led CNN jointly with Amy Entelis, Virginia Moseley and Eric Sherling and played a central part helping me into my role as chairman and CEO before, as COO, leading multiple organizations and teams across revenue, promotion, operations and data,' CNN Chairman and CEO Mark Thompson said. For his part, Leavy said that his moving over to CNN was originally just a six-month plan that turned into a multi-year drive to help the company pivot, transform, and reposition itself. His return to Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBD) was a vote of confidence in his effectiveness in transforming the news giant. Overall, WBD ranks 6th on our list of best-performing stocks. While we acknowledge the potential of WBD, our conviction lies in the belief that some AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns and have limited downside risk. If you are looking for an AI stock that is more promising than WBD and that has 10,000x upside potential, check out our report about this cheapest AI stock. READ NEXT: 20 Best AI Stocks To Buy Now and 30 Best Stocks to Buy Now According to Billionaires. Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Why Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. (WBD) Soared On Wednesday
We recently published a list of . In this article, we are going to take a look at where Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBD) stands against other best-performing stocks. Warner Bros grew by 4.92 percent on Wednesday to close at $10.02 apiece as investor sentiment was buoyed by news that CNN's chief operating officer, David Leavy, will return to the entertainment media giant. According to a letter to CNN employees, Leavy, a long time key executive of Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBD), is set to leave his current chief operating officer role at CNN. He was praised for his 'brilliant job stabilizing the company (CNN) at a difficult moment.' A movie theater auditorium filled with an audience enjoying a blockbuster film. 'During the transition, he led CNN jointly with Amy Entelis, Virginia Moseley and Eric Sherling and played a central part helping me into my role as chairman and CEO before, as COO, leading multiple organizations and teams across revenue, promotion, operations and data,' CNN Chairman and CEO Mark Thompson said. For his part, Leavy said that his moving over to CNN was originally just a six-month plan that turned into a multi-year drive to help the company pivot, transform, and reposition itself. His return to Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBD) was a vote of confidence in his effectiveness in transforming the news giant. Overall, WBD ranks 6th on our list of best-performing stocks. While we acknowledge the potential of WBD, our conviction lies in the belief that some AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns and have limited downside risk. If you are looking for an AI stock that is more promising than WBD and that has 10,000x upside potential, check out our report about this cheapest AI stock. READ NEXT: 20 Best AI Stocks To Buy Now and 30 Best Stocks to Buy Now According to Billionaires. Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
7NEWS
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- 7NEWS
INSIDE MEDIA: Why the new Superman movie could be banned in Australia
Watch the video version of this article and see interviews with people mentioned in the player above. WHY THE NEW SUPERMAN MOVIE COULD BE BANNED IN AUSTRALIA There's an ongoing battle taking place right now about the international rights to Superman and it could mean the anticipated new film could be banned from screening in Australia. As INSIDE MEDIA reported in February, the estate of Superman co-creator Joseph Shuster has launched a copyright claim against Warner Bros. Discovery. The claim states 'the copyright laws of countries with the British legal tradition — including Canada, the United Kingdom, Ireland, and Australia — contain provisions automatically terminating such assignments 25 years after an author's death, vesting in the Shuster Estate the co-author's undivided copyright interest in such countries'. The case was dismissed a month ago and everyone thought it was over. But they were wrong. According to US media company Puck, lawyer Marc Toberoff 'has refiled his case in New York state court, where it's now pending. What's more, he's shooting for a quick injunction to block Warner Bros. from exploiting Superman in those foreign territories, theoretically jeopardizing the global rollout of James Gunn's Superman reboot on July 11'. That's bad news for Aussie fans eagerly awaiting the new adventure – and I include myself in that category. The case is set for June 4 where it will be determined if the injunction will be granted. While most experts believe it won't be, stranger things have happened. I'll keep you updated. NINE STANDS DOWN REPORTER FOR BIZARRE REASON Plenty of questions are being asked around Channel 9's North Sydney bunker over the appalling treatment of sports journalist Michael Chammas. According to The Daily Telegraph Chammas was kicked off Channel 9's 100% Footy show after Parramatta Eels star Mitchell Moses threatened to cancel his scheduled appearance if Chammas was on the panel. The request was made through his manager, Isaac Moses. As per the article: 'Nine entertainment – that described itself as 'Independent Always' bowed to the manager's wishes and pulled Chammas off the show'. Apparently, there's bad blood between Isaac Moses and Chammas, which is why Chammas says he expected to sit out of the panel when Mitchell was on but return after his segment. 'But the decision was made that even after Mitchell left, it would be better that, that Danny (Weidler) was on,' Chammas told the Triple M Rocks Footy podcast. You can hear his comments in the video player above. So even though Chammas was willing to sit it out until the end of segment with Mitchell, his manager didn't want him to be part of the show at all. And he got his way. That's a lot of power one man holds over the Nine Network. 'What annoys me is I could see what Isaac was doing and he does it with clubs (too),' Chammas continued when asked if he was annoyed. It's one thing for a powerful manager to pull their weight but it's another thing for Channel 9 to allow itself to be bullied. NRL player managers now know the network will cave to any demands in order to get access to players. That's a dangerous precedent. In the first year of Studio 10, Anthony Callea was booked to appear on the show and we promoted it. With less than 24 hours' notice, we received a phone call from his manager informing us the appearance was cancelled so that Anthony could appear on rival Channel 9. We pushed back and told them they couldn't do that as we booked him first. The manager didn't care as Channel 9 had bigger ratings at the time. We soon overtook them but that's another story. I warned the manager that if Anthony appeared on Channel 9 that morning he would never appear on Studio 10 while I was the executive producer. The manager laughed and didn't believe me. To me it was an easy decision – don't allow yourself to be treated like a second-class citizen. Anthony appeared on Channel 9 and, true to my word, he never appeared on Studio 10 for the five years I was running the show. Let me be clear, this was nothing to do with Anthony – he suffered because of the decision of his then manager. That one decision set the tone and managers knew they couldn't treat the show like a second-class citizen. It led to us booking great guests and quickly increasing our audience. There's no doubt the producers at Nine were thinking about the short-term benefits of booking a great guest for their show, but what they've done is hand over all their power and shown they don't protect their own. By allowing one of their cast to be dropped at the whim of a player's manager, it shows a lack of backbone and a lack of respect for their staff. WOKE v WOKE You have to feel sorry for those on the progressive left who fall victim to the vitriol of those they support. Take the case of ABC Melbourne radio presenter Bob Murphy. The former AFL Western Bulldogs star is often described as 'woke'. When he referred to the men's competition as 'AFLM' in a recent newspaper column in a bid to separate it from the women's AFLW, he was cheered on by some but mostly ridiculed for his use of the term. So, here's a guy who believes in equality and inclusivity, despite whatever backlash he might receive. But did any of that matter when Murphy made a silly joke while on air with Sharnelle Vella when he insinuated that she worked at Melbourne strip club Spearmint Rhino? No, no it didn't. Not only was he forced to issue a grovelling apology, but those who he had stood up for were quick to turn on him, labelling him misogynistic. It turns out you can't bank any good will with the woke brigade. If you make one mistake you become the enemy – and this is a take-no-prisoners situation. Jessica Rowe suffered a similar fate back in 2021 when she dared to interview Pauline Hanson for her podcast – The Jess Rowe Big Talk Show. The left turned on Rowe and she pulled the episode after a massive backlash, despite doing nothing wrong – she was simply talking to an elected official. Rowe made the point that she didn't agree with Hanson's politics but she was accused of platforming the One Nation leader. The thing I don't understand to this very day is that if you ever watched just one episode of Studio 10, you would know Jess is a kind-hearted big leftie. So, even if she had made the wrong call by interviewing Hanson (which I don't believe she did), didn't she deserve a pass? Didn't she deserve some kindness for all the people she had stood up for, all the left issues she had supported? Apparently not. Turns out you are only embraced by those on the extreme left until you dare step out of line – whether you actually have stepped out of line is questionable, but it's whether they BELIEVE you have. Bob Murphy is a progressive leftie – some call that woke – whatever it is, it's fair enough. It's just a shame that the people and issues he supports didn't support him after he made a silly joke.
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
'Don't Ever Say What You Said': Donald Trump Fumes At Reporter For Asking About Wall Street's Notion That He Always 'Chickens Out' On Tariffs
UPDATED: Donald Trump once again got testy with a reporter over a question, this time over a phrase being used on Wall Street over the president's tendency to not follow through on tariff threats: the TACO trade, as in 'Trump Always Chickens Out.' The reporter, Megan Casella of CNBC, noted that analysts have used the term, and it explains why markets have been higher this week. 'What's your response to that?' she asked Trump. More from Deadline David Leavy To Depart As COO Of CNN, Will Return To Parent Warner Bros. Discovery NBC News' Kelly O'Donnell To Lead Coverage Of Justice Department Hoda Kotb, In Return 'Today' Visit, Denies Rumors She Will Succeed Kelly Clarkson With Daytime Talk Show 'I kick out?' Trump asked. 'Chicken out,' Casella repeated. 'I've never heard that,' Trump said, before arguing that his tariff policy has brought China and the European Union to the negotiating table. He then told Casella, 'You ask a nasty question like that. It's called negotiation. You set a number… if I set a number at a ridiculous high, I go down a little bit, they want me to hold that number. 145% tariff.' Trump said that 'we were doing no business because of the tariff, because it was so high. I knew that. But don't ever say what you said. That's a nasty question.' Wall Street markets gyrated as trade between the U.S. and China came to a standstill. But after negotiations earlier this month, the U.S. lowered the tariff, at least for 90 days, to 30%, while China dropped its reciprocal tariff to 10%. Trump was speaking to pool reporters in the Oval Office after a swearing in ceremony of Jeanine Pirro as the new interim U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia. Casella later said on CNBC that 'Wall Street loves an acronym,' and 'the idea here is just that yes, the markets will go down when he makes a threat, only to rebound, often even higher, once the threat is off the table.' As for Trump calling her question 'nasty,' Casella said it was 'a badge of honor, I guess.' Best of Deadline 'The Morning Show' Season 4: Everything We Know So Far 2025 TV Series Renewals: Photo Gallery 'Hacks' Season 4 Release Schedule: When Do New Episodes Come Out?
