Paramount Global Q2 Earnings Highlights: Revenue Beat, EPS Beat, Paramount+ Hits 61M Subs, Simon & Schuster Sells And More

Media company Paramount Global PARA PARAA reported second-quarter financial results after the market close Monday. Here are the key highlights.

What Happened: Paramount reported second-quarter revenue of $7.62 billion, which was down 2% year-over-year. The revenue total beat a Street consensus estimate of $7.43 billion, according to data from Benzinga Pro.

The company reported earnings per share of 10 cents in the second quarter, beating a consensus estimate of a loss of 1 cent per share.

Revenue was broken down as follows:

• TV Media: $5.16 billion, -2% year-over-year
• DTC: $1.67 billion, +40% year-over-year
• Filmed Entertainment: $831 million, -34% year-over-year

The company’s direct-to-consumer segment, which includes the Paramount+ streaming platform saw advertising revenue up 21% year-over-year and had viewing hours up 35% year-over-year.

Paramount reported its Paramount+ streaming platform had around 61 million subscribers and was the top premium streaming service in the U.S. for signups in the second quarter and since its launch.

In the TV Media segment, CBS was the No. 1 broadcasting network for a 15th straight season and had eight of the top 10 most watched series and the top four most-watched series during the most recent season.

Filmed entertainment saw a sharp decline on a year-over-year basis due to the comparable quarter from the previous year including the theatrical release of “Top Gun: Maverick,” which was the top-grossing movie domestically in 2022.

“We maintained our focus on scaling our streaming platforms, maximizing our traditional businesses, and building a sustainable business model that will return the company to significant earnings growth in 2024,” Paramount CEO Bob Bakish said.

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What’s Next: The company continues to invest in its direct-to-consumer progress and completed the launch of its Paramount+ with Showtime platform on June 27.

“As we look forward, we will continue to be guided by our content-first approach and seek to maximize its value across platforms and revenue streams, while also operating with the utmost efficiency through this year of peak streaming investment,” Bakish said.

Along with the quarterly earnings report, the company announced that KKR & Co KKR will acquire Simon & Schuster from Paramount for $1.62 billion in an all-cash deal.

“We are pleased to have reached an agreement on a transaction that delivers excellent value to Paramount shareholders while also positioning Simon & Schuster for its next phase of growth with KKR,” Bakish said.

Bakish added that the proceeds from the KKR deal will give Paramount “additional financial flexibility” and “greater ability to create long-term value for shareholders.”

PARA Price Action: Paramount Class A shares are up 2.26% to $20.35 in after-hours trading Monday versus a 52-week trading range of $16.06 to $30.72.

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