Warner Bros. Discovery (NASDAQ:WBD) Announces Quarterly Earnings Results, Misses Estimates By $0.19 EPS

Warner Bros. Discovery (NASDAQ:WBD) announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday. The company reported ($0.10) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.09 by ($0.19), FiscalAI reports. Warner Bros. Discovery had a return on equity of 1.34% and a net margin of 1.28%.The company had revenue of $9.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.33 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted ($0.20) earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year.

Here are the key takeaways from Warner Bros. Discovery’s conference call:

• Warner Bros. Discovery described a creative renaissance — 9 films opened at No. 1 in 2025, the studio won major awards (including nine Golden Globes) and management highlighted a blockbuster 2027 slate (e.g., Minecraft 2, Batman Part 2, Superman).
• HBO Max has exceeded its prior target (surpassing 130 million subs) and management is guiding to >140 million by end of Q1 and >150 million by year-end, backed by five growth levers (content, penetration, product, retention, monetization).
• The board’s strategic review and sale process produced a materially higher outcome — management says the competitive process yielded a 63% increase in value versus the first offer as it pursues the planned Warner Bros./Discovery Global separation.
• Discovery Global is expected to start with roughly ~3.3x net leverage, which management calls sustainable and expects to translate to single?B to low double?B ratings, with a disclosed $0–2 billion potential debt allocation flexibility.
• Advertising and linear network trends improved sequentially — the Milano Cortina Olympics drove strong linear and streaming lifts, U.S. ad sales recovered after NBA headwinds, and international ad sales are described as flat?to?up, supporting near?term revenue momentum.

Warner Bros. Discovery Stock Performance

WBD traded down $0.10 during trading on Thursday, hitting $28.80. The stock had a trading volume of 15,738,186 shares, compared to its average volume of 23,677,279. The firm has a market capitalization of $71.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 151.59 and a beta of 1.64. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $28.33 and its 200 day moving average price is $22.49. Warner Bros. Discovery has a twelve month low of $7.52 and a twelve month high of $30.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a current ratio of 1.07.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $31.00 price objective on shares of Warner Bros. Discovery and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of Warner Bros. Discovery from $13.00 to $14.75 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 7th. Benchmark boosted their price target on shares of Warner Bros. Discovery from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 15th. Raymond James Financial lifted their target price on Warner Bros. Discovery from $22.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 7th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Warner Bros. Discovery from $21.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have issued a Buy rating and thirteen have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $25.30.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Warner Bros. Discovery news, CFO Gunnar Wiedenfels sold 242,994 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.50, for a total value of $7,168,323.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 918,940 shares in the company, valued at approximately $27,108,730. This represents a 20.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CAO Lori C. Locke sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.62, for a total transaction of $138,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 110,084 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,040,520.08. This trade represents a 4.34% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 262,116 shares of company stock worth $7,665,481 in the last ninety days. 1.90% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Warner Bros. Discovery

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Brighton Jones LLC increased its stake in shares of Warner Bros. Discovery by 304.9% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 68,950 shares of the company’s stock valued at $729,000 after acquiring an additional 51,920 shares during the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Warner Bros. Discovery by 50.5% in the 1st quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 63,254 shares of the company’s stock valued at $679,000 after purchasing an additional 21,228 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC raised its stake in shares of Warner Bros. Discovery by 6.2% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 65,082 shares of the company’s stock valued at $698,000 after acquiring an additional 3,779 shares during the period. Focus Partners Wealth increased its holdings in Warner Bros. Discovery by 91.6% in the 1st quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 116,821 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,254,000 after purchasing an additional 55,837 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Baird Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Warner Bros. Discovery by 3.8% during the second quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 111,450 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,277,000 after purchasing an additional 4,062 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 59.95% of the company’s stock.

Key Headlines Impacting Warner Bros. Discovery

Here are the key news stories impacting Warner Bros. Discovery this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Paramount Skydance raised its offer to $31 per share and provided stronger equity backing, increasing the chance of a higher takeover price for WBD shareholders. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Streaming growth: HBO Max / Discovery+ added subscribers (near ~131–132M reported), which offsets some legacy decline and supports the strategic value of WBD’s streaming assets. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: WBD’s board says it still recommends the Netflix merger but confirmed Paramount’s revised proposal could be a “company superior proposal,” so the situation remains fluid — the company continues talks while the Netflix agreement remains in place. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Q4 earnings miss: WBD reported EPS of -$0.10 vs. expectations (~$0.09) and revenue down ~6% y/y (revenue roughly in line with consensus), highlighting weakness in linear TV and studios that weighed on profitability. That earnings shortfall is pressuring the stock. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Regulatory/anticompetitive risk: multiple state attorneys general have urged the DOJ to closely review a Netflix acquisition, adding a material regulatory hurdle that could scuttle or delay any deal and reduce near?term upside. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Market signaling: Netflix shares rallied after Paramount’s sweetened bid — investors interpreted that as a higher probability Netflix will step back (good for NFLX holders, not for WBD upside), which could remove the bidding escalation premium supporting WBD’s rally. Read More.

About Warner Bros. Discovery

Warner Bros. Discovery (NASDAQ: WBD) is a global media and entertainment company formed when WarnerMedia and Discovery, Inc combined their businesses in 2022. Headquartered in New York City, the company assembles a broad portfolio of film and television production, linear and cable networks, streaming services and consumer distribution operations. Its assets span well-known studio brands, premium scripted and unscripted programming, news and factual entertainment, and licensed franchise properties.

The company’s core activities include film and television production and distribution through units such as Warner Bros.