By George Glover
Paramount Global stock was rising on Friday after a so-so third-quarter earnings report. Streaming was the clear highlight for the media and entertainment company.
The CBS and Paramount Pictures parent posted an adjusted profit of 49 cents a share, up from 30 cents a share a year ago, on sales of $6.73 billion. Analysts had expected earnings of 24 cents a share and sales of $6.94 billion, according to FactSet consensus estimates.
Revenue for Paramount's direct-to-consumer segment, which includes streaming, climbed 10% from a year ago to $1.86 billion, and the company said its Paramount+ streaming platform had added 3.5 million subscribers over the quarter, taking the total number to 72 million.
That offset the weaker performance of Paramount's TV and film businesses. TV revenue fell 6% from a year ago to $4.3 billion, and film revenue was down 34% to $590 million.
Shares climbed 2% to $11.76 in premarket trading. Futures for the benchmark S&P 500 index were down 0.1%.
The earnings cover a quarter where there were twists in the messy merger with David Ellison's Skydance Media, which was first agreed last summer. The media mogul tried to trump Skydance's offer with an 11th-hour bid, then pulled out. Paramount said in Friday's earnings report that it expects the deal to close in the first half of 2025.
As of Thursday's close shares in Paramount were down 22% this year, compared with a 25% rise for the S&P 500.
This is breaking news. Check back for more analysis soon.
This content was created by Barron's, which is operated by Dow Jones & Co. Barron's is published independently from Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
November 08, 2024 08:18 ET (13:18 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2024 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
Comments