Warner Bros. Discovery Q2 Earnings Beat Estimates, Revenues Rise Y/Y

Warner Bros. Discovery WBD reported second-quarter 2025 earnings of 63 cents per share, in contrast to the Zacks Consensus Estimate of a loss of 16 cents. The company had incurred a loss of $4.07 per share in the year-ago quarter. 

Revenues increased 1% year over year to $9.81 billion, which missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 0.15%. Ex-forex revenues remained flat year over year. 

Advertising revenues decreased 10% ex-forex, as ad-lite streaming subscriber growth was more than offset by domestic linear audience declines. Distribution revenues were relatively unchanged, as growth in global streaming subscribers was offset by continued domestic linear pay TV subscriber declines. Content revenues increased 16% ex-forex, primarily driven by higher box office revenues due to the stronger performance of the theatrical releases in the current year quarter. Other revenues declined 19% year over year and were impacted by separation-related costs during the quarter.

WBD ended the second quarter of 2025 with 125.7 million global Max, HBO Max, HBO, and Discovery+ subscribers, which increased 3.4 million sequentially. Domestic average revenue per user fell to $11.16, primarily driven by the broader wholesale distribution of HBO Max basic with ads, while international ARPU came in at $3.85.

Warner Bros. Discovery shares have gained 13.6% year to date (YTD). The company’s closest peers, Paramount Global PARA, Disney DIS and Netflix NFLX have appreciated 5.5%, 3.5% and 33%, respectively, YTD.

Post second-quarter 2025 results, WBD's subscriber base of 125.7 million continues to trail Disney+'s subscriber base but shows strong momentum with consistent quarterly growth. WBD reported an increase of 3.4 million subscribers sequentially in the second quarter.

The company reported revenues of $2.8 billion for streaming, up 9% year over year, and $3.8 billion for studios, up 55% year over year. Global Linear Networks' revenues decreased 9% year over year to $4.8 billion.

Under the Streaming segment, subscriber revenues grew 10% year over year to $2.7 billion. Content revenues fell 17% year over year to $102 million due to lower third-party licensing. Streaming eked out a profit of $293 million against a loss of $107 million a year ago.

Under the Studios segment, profits came in at $863 million, up from a profit of $210 million a year ago, due to strong performance, including major releases. Distribution revenues decreased 67% year over year to $1 million. Content revenues increased 61% year over year to $3.59 billion, while other revenues remained flat year over year at $219 million.