Paramount Global It missed revenue expectations for the fourth quarter on Wednesday but posted a surprising quarterly profit and delivered strong results from its streaming platform Paramount+.
Here's how Paramount performed in the fourth quarter compared to Wall Street estimates from LSEG, formerly known as Refinitiv:
Earnings per share: 4 cents vs. an expected loss of 1 cent Revenue: $7.64 billion vs. $7.85 billion expected
In the last three months of 2023, Paramount reported earnings of $514 million, or 77 cents per share, up from $21 million, or 1 cent per share, the previous year. Adjusted for one-time items, earnings per share were 4 cents for the period.
Paramount — home to brands like CBS, Showtime, BET, Nickelodeon and its namesake movie studio — posted a 6% year-over-year revenue decline but has made notable strides in the streaming segment.
Paramount+, the leading streaming service, reached 67.5 million subscribers during the period, a net increase of 4.1 million, and recorded 69% year-over-year revenue growth. The company said Wednesday that it expects Paramount+ to be profitable by 2025.
Subscription revenue in the fourth quarter grew 43%, driven in part 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 during the fourth quarter.
“Looking to the future, we continue to focus on maximizing the return on our content investments and expanding the reach of streaming, while transforming the cost base of our business,” CEO Bob Bakish said in a press release. “And I couldn't be more thrilled with the early momentum we've seen across every platform in 2024, demonstrating the strength of our strategy and assets.”
Paramount has been exploring options to sell all or portions of its business in recent months as the media landscape changes rapidly. Paramount has struggled without a strong growth narrative, with its shares falling more than 50% over the past two years.
Warner Bros. Discovery It was in initial talks to acquire Paramount, but those talks have since stalled, CNBC's Alex Sherman reported Tuesday.
Paramount announced the layoffs of about 800 employees earlier this month, just one day after the company said it had reached record viewing numbers for this year's Super Bowl.
TV media revenues declined 12% year-over-year, the company reported Wednesday. Advertising revenue fell 15% due to “general weakness in the global advertising market and the impact of a 5 percentage point decline in political advertising,” according to the earnings release.
Revenues in Paramount's filmed entertainment segment declined 31% year over year, driven by lower licensing revenues.
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