Warner Bros Discovery slides as US$9 billion write-down points to TV woes

SHARES of Warner Bros Discovery plunged more than 11 per cent on Thursday (Aug 8) after a US$9.1 billion write-down of the media giant’s TV assets sparked doubts about its broadcasting business.

The company reported a US$10 billion net loss for the second quarter and missed Wall Street estimates for quarterly results, overshadowing strong streaming subscriber growth.

The results also underlined the loss of a key sports broadcast deal amid a broader hit from the shift to streaming.

The legacy media company, forged by the union of AT&T spinoffs WarnerMedia and Discovery in April 2022, has lost more than US$40 billion in its market valuation since then.

“WBD’s market cap is a fraction of what it was pre-merger, which should make investors reconsider who really is enriched by giant media M&A deals,” said Ross Benes, television and streaming analyst at eMarketer.

Its shares hit a 15-year low on Thursday and were set to shed more than US$2 billion in market valuation, if losses hold. They have lost more than 32 per cent of their value this year and were among the top losers on the S&P 500 index.

Uncertainty following the loss of television rights for the National Basketball Association’s games causes concern that the decline in linear television business will spiral more quickly, Morningstar analyst Matthew Dolgin said.

The company reported revenue of US$9.71 billion in the second quarter on Wednesday, below expectations of US$10.07 billion, according to LSEG data.

Its direct-to-consumer customers at the end of the quarter was 103.3 million, up from 99.6 million subscribers in the January-to-March period, helped by cheaper ad-supported products and expansion of the Max streaming service to new markets.

“There’s no dressing this up. A disappointing set of results with numerous challenges to overcome. There’s no easy fix and a clear concise turnaround strategy is very much needed,” said Paolo Pescatore, analyst at PP Foresight. REUTERS