Earnings

Mark Zuckerberg ’s Meta , parent of Facebook and Instagram , posted upbeat financials today to Wall Street’s surprise and relief, beating on revenue and daily active users. Earnings fell but were hit by a $4.2 billion restrcuturing charge after the social media giant laid off 11,000 people late last year. This was Meta’s first financial report since the company slashing jobs in Nov. amid a retrenchment in the tech sector. Meta specifically has been hampered by hefty investmet in, and Wall Street skepticism of, its huge push into the Metaverse. Snap’s gloomy outlook yesterday wasn’t a great harbinger for ad-suppported internet services but Facebook blew by that. Fourth-quarter sales of $32.2 billion were down 4% from the year before but beat expectations. Earnings fell to $4.6 billion from $10.2 billion. EPS was $1.76 vs $3.67 but would have been signifinicantly higher excluding that $4.2 billion charge. Facebook’s daily active users (DAU) of 2 billion at year end … [Read more...] about Meta Stock Pops On Q4 Earnings Beat, Takes $4.2 Billion Charge After Massive Layoffs, FB Daily Active Users At 2 Billion

WWE CEO Nick Khan said an exploration of strategic alternatives is in early stages but well underway and the company will “consider a broad range of possibilities.” Speaking on a call after quarterly earnings, Khan addressed the sale process intiated in the midst of some major corporate drama. Majority shareholder and former longtime CEO Vince McMahon, who stepped back last summer, returned as executive chairman in early January. When he did, he brought two allies and former directors with him to the board, and ejected three sitting members. “There is more interest than ever in owning content and intellectual property. With the expiration of our domestic media rights in 2024, and the upcoming negotiations for those rights, we have a unique opportunity to explore a wide range of value-enhancing alternatives both with parties that recognize the value of content and IP like ours, and with parties that value owning the content that they host on their own platforms,” Khan said. … [Read more...] about WWE CEO Nick Khan Updates On Sale Process As Q4 Earnings Include $7.4 Million In Expenses For Settled Vince McMahon Claims

WWE Chief Content Officer Paul Levesque touched on the success of the company’s original programming during Thursday’s Q4 investors call, including the recently debuted local-language series Contra Las Cuerdas . The Spanish-language series, which is executive produced by WWE Studios, debuted on Netflix globally on January 25. It follows a young mother who enters the wrestling ring in the arenas of Mexico to regain the affection of her lucha libre-loving daughter after being in prison. “Strong content is the bedrock of this company and drives our business,” Levesque said during the call, citing several data points from Parrot Analytics. Since its debut, the scripted comedy has become the third-most in demand show in Mexico, according to data from Parrot. It’s also currently sitting in second place on Netflix’s Top 10 in Mexico. The streamer doesn’t give viewing data by country, so exact numbers are unavailable. Contra Las Cuerdas , which translates to Against the … [Read more...] about WWE-Produced ‘Contra Las Cuerdas’ Earns International Ratings Success As Company Leans Into Scripted Programming

Netflix , after pulling itself out of a grueling series of setbacks in the first part of 2022, will face another test Thursday afternoon when it reports fourth quarter financial results. In addition to kicking off quarterly earnings season for media and entertainment companies, the report will usher in a year of increased scrutiny for the streaming business. Having moved mountains (and billions of dollars) to try to compete with Netflix after years of letting it run away with the streaming game, media companies are still very early in their direct-to-consumer orientation process. “Rather than being the new sliced bread, investors and executives have accepted that streaming is, in fact, not a good business – at least not compared to what came before,” MoffettNathanson analyst Robert Fishman wrote in a note to clients this week. “But that pre-streaming era is now long gone and not coming back. If streaming is a mediocre business, so what? We are in a streaming age now.” … [Read more...] about Netflix Q4 Report To Kick Off Year Of Streaming Scrutiny As Hollywood And Wall Street Try To See If The Math Can Work

Netflix beat forecasts for subscriber gains for the fourth quarter and also edged revenue estimates, but pressure on earnings per share reflected broader challenges in the streaming business. The company added almost 7.7 million subscribers during the fourth quarter, reaching 230.75 million globally. That was well ahead of Wall Street guidance of almost 4.6 million new customers and within sight of the stellar 8.3 million added in the year-ago quarter. Revenue came in at $7.82 billion, up just 2% from the same period in 2021 and a hair below Wall Street analysts’ consensus expectation for $7.85 billion. Earnings per share of 12 cents were well below the forecast of 45 cents and down from $1.33 a year ago. Along with the stats, the company announced that co-founder Reed Hastings would be passing the Co-CEO baton to Greg Peters. Hastings will become executive chairman. Peters had headed up product for Netflix before adding the chief operating officer title and then … [Read more...] about Netflix Beats Q4 Subscriber Growth Target, But Mixed Financial Results Reflect Challenging Environment

At the start of awards season, Edward Berger ’s All Quiet On The Western Front was a lock for International, but few could have foreseen how much further it would go. Alongside that nomination, the German film is now also in the running for Best Picture, having made the shortlist for Sound, Original Score, Adapted Screenplay, Makeup and Hairstyling, Production Design, Visual Effects and Cinematography. This grand haul follows its performance at the BAFTAs, where it gathered an astonishing 14 nominations in almost all major categories. As a result, the film joins Ang Lee’s Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2002) in second place to Richard Attenborough’s Gandhi (1981), which still holds the BAFTA record for nominations with 16. It’s a double-whammy that will surely prompt some second thoughts at Netflix: in a year that the streamer invested in some of cinema’s biggest names, one of its biggest critical hits is a foreign-language remake with no major stars, from a director best … [Read more...] about 2023 Oscars: ‘All Quiet on the Western Front’ Earns Nine Nominations

Streaming service Peacock closed 2022 with more than 20 million paid subscribers, helping Comcast slip past Wall Street estimates during a challenging fourth quarter in the media business. Total revenue came in at $30.55 billion in the period, less than 1% ahead of the prior-year quarter but just above analysts’ consensus. Earnings per share of 70 cents fell short of estimates, but exceeded them on a non-GAAP basis. Along with Peacock, a strong return for theme parks helped NBCUniversal post solid numbers on the top line, with revenue up 6% to $9.9 billion. Advertising revenue increased 4%, which the company credited to Spanish-language coverage of the World Cup by Telemundo and rising Peacock ad revenue. The profit story was less encouraging, with adjusted EBITDA falling 36% to $817 Theatrical revenue at the film studio soared 47% over the prior year, with Ticket to Paradise , Puss , Violent Night and Halloween Ends closing the year on a high note. … [Read more...] about Peacock Clears 20M Subscribers, Helping Comcast Nip Wall Street Q4 Estimates

With advertising trends front and center for Wall Street and industry players in the current crop of media earnings , Comcast’s NBC Universal was one of the first to weigh in. NBCU CEO Jeff Shell said the market steadily  worsened over the course of last year but “it kind of feels like it bottomed out around late November, early December, and really since then it hasn’t gotten worse, and maybe even a little better.” He said he’d describe it as a “shallow” market with areas “that are better, actually really doing well, like pharma, entertainment, travel is on fire” and other that “feel uncertain” like weak tech, auto and financial services. Speaking on a post-earnings conference call, he said it feels like the weakness is due more to macroeconomic uncertainty than to businesses not doing well. “None of us know where the economy is headed, so advertisers are holding back, and when they do advertise, they are coming in later than usual. He predicted the market “is … [Read more...] about NBCU’s Jeff Shell Says Ad Market May Have “Bottomed Out”

Hasbro , which has been reeling from a series of economic and corporate shocks, plans to cut 15% of its global workforce this year, or about 1,000 positions. In addition to those reductions, the company plans to unveil “a new organizational model, commercial alignment, and leadership changes” during its quarterly earnings call on February 16. One preliminary exec move announced today was the departure of Eric Nyman as president and chief operating officer. The consumer products group Nyman used to oversee will now report directly to CEO Chris Cocks. The toy maker and film and TV supplier elevated Cocks to CEO about a year ago following the death weeks earlier of Brian Goldner, who had steered the Rhode Island company to a more high-profile role in Hollywood. Under Goldner, Hasbro reached deals with studios and streamers for adaptations of Transformers, G.I. Joe and many other properties. During the pandemic, though, and with resulting supply-chain and retail pressures, Hasbro has … [Read more...] about Hasbro To Cut 15% Of Workforce, Warns Q4 Results Hurt By “Challenging Holiday Consumer Environment”

Shares in Snap Inc ., the parent of Snapchat beset by a confluence of adverse market forces, fell again in after-hours trading after its latest quarterly financial report. Revenue came in at $1.3 billion, slightly below Wall Street analysts’ consensus forecast for $1.31 billion and flat with the 2021 quarter, while operating losses widened significantly. In the period ending December 31, losses totaled $287.6 million, compared with a $25.1 million loss a year ago. Earnings per share of 14 cents beat analysts’ outlook for 11 cents, but on an adjusted basis they added up to a loss of 18 cents, a big swing from 22 cents of profit per share in the year-earlier quarter. Daily active user levels for Snapchat matched the Street’s expectation, rising to 375 million from 363 million in the third quarter. Growth in the current first quarter of 2023 will slow, putting the total at 382 million to 384 million, the company projected. “We anticipate that the operating environment will … [Read more...] about Snap Inc. Shares Slide Again After Uneven Q4 Results