Paramount sees streaming gains as company continues to pursue Warner Bros. Discovery

Paramount Skydance is betting its aboriginal connected its streaming business, arsenic gains astatine the media and amusement company’s Paramount+ level helped boost net for the fiscal 4th fourth of 2025.

On Wednesday, Paramount reported $8.1 cardinal successful gross for the three-month play that ended Dec. 31, up 2% compared to the erstwhile year’s quarter. That was owed to maturation successful its streaming business, which saw a 10% summation successful quarterly gross to $2.2 billion, arsenic good arsenic gains astatine Paramount’s filmed amusement segment, which reported gross of $1.3 billion,an summation of 16% compared to the erstwhile year.

The company’s TV media business, however, had a tougher quarter.

That conception reported gross of $4.7 billion, down 5% compared to past year, arsenic accepted broadcast networks proceed tolose subscribers. Paramount besides cited a 10% alteration successful advertising, partially owed to a driblet successful governmental spending and not having the Big 10 title arsenic it did successful 2024.

Paramount reported an operating nonaccomplishment of $339 million, which included $546 cardinal successful restructuring and transaction-related costsattributed to its merger with Skydance past year. Diluted losses per stock totaled 52 cents, compared to a nonaccomplishment of 33 cents during the anterior year.

Chief Executive David Ellison praised the company’s advancement nether his tenure, noting that investments successful the movie studio, archetypal series, UFC and tech upgrades to Paramount+’s streaming level and advertizing would physique momentum successful the coming years.

“It’s been six months, but we truly bash consciousness bully astir the enactment the squad has done to date,” helium said during an net telephone with analysts Wednesday afternoon. “You tin expect that to accelerate into the aboriginal quickly.”

The institution said it expects full gross of $30 cardinal for 2026, which would people a 4% summation compared to 2025. Paramount signaled the superior operator of that maturation volition beryllium its streaming business, though the institution besides anticipates a boost from its workplace segment.

Company executives declined to reply questions connected the telephone astir Paramount’s bid to get rival Warner Bros. Discovery.

The lone notation of the ongoing combat was successful Paramount‘s missive to shareholders, which noted that the institution was “confident” successful its standalone strategy and maturation trajectory, but that adding Warner would beryllium an “accelerant to achieving these goals much quickly” and successful a mode that would beryllium “economically compelling” for Paramount’s shareholders.

Paramount submitted a higher bid Monday offering $31 a stock successful currency to Warner Bros. Discovery investors. Previously, the connection was $30 a share.

The institution besides agreed to wage $7 cardinal to Warner should the woody neglect to wide assorted regulatory hurdles. That was a $2 cardinal increase. (The erstwhile committedness was $5 billion.)

Paramount reaffirmed that it would screen the $2.8 cardinal termination interest that Warner would beryllium Netflix if Warner abandoned its woody with the streamer.

Paramount besides said it would wage a alleged ticking interest sooner. Now, the institution said it would wage an further $0.25 per 4th to shareholders aft Sept. 30 until a Paramount-Warner transaction closed. It besides agreed to screen Warner’s imaginable $1.5 cardinal successful financing costs associated with a planned indebtedness speech offer.

Additionally, Paramountsaid it “agreed to an work to lend further equity backing to the grade needed to enactment the solvency certificate required by PSKY’s lending banks.” That proviso was offered due to the fact that Warner committee members person expressed concerns that Paramount whitethorn not beryllium capable to circular up capable financing to adjacent specified a gargantuan deal.

But the company’s net — and the declines its facing successful its ain TV concern — raised concerns astir the imaginable Warner acquisition, John Conca, expert astatine Third Bridge, wrote successful an email.

“It is becoming questionable wherefore enactment is aggressively pursuing [Warner], a woody that would efficaciously treble their vulnerability to dying linear networks portion besides creating adjacent much monolithic integration headaches,” helium said.