Warner Bros Discovery forecasts surge in subscriber numbers

(Sharecast News) - US media giant Warner Bros Discovery posted below-forecast quarterly earnings on Thursday, but remained bullish about growth after subscriber numbers surprised on the upside. The owner of streaming service Max - which was rebranded from HBO Max - and Discovery+ posted reported revenues of $10.03bn in the three months to December end, down 2% on a reported basis.

Analysts had been expecting on average $10.19bn in revenues.

Adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation rose 10% to $2.72bn.

But net losses per share widened to $0.20 from $0.16 a year previously, compared to Wall Street forecasts for a net loss of $0.02 per share.

However, subscriber numbers were comfortably better-than-expected.

The streaming business added 6.4m direct to consumer (DTC) subscribers during the fourth quarter, fuelled by international launches, including in Taiwan and Hong Kong, massively beating analyst expectations for 4.89m.

Warner Bros Discovery said its streaming service now had a "clear path" to reaching at least 150m users by 2026, "with corresponding strong DTC revenue and adjusted EBITDA growth". It currently has 116.9m subscribers.

Analysts had previously pencilled in 135.8m by the end of next year.

As at 1300 GMT, shares in Warner Bros Discovery were up 2% in pre-market trading.