The stock of Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) is down 5% after the entertainment company reported a loss for the fourth quarter of 2023.
Warner Bros. Discovery announced a loss of $0.16 U.S. per share compared to a loss of $0.07 U.S. that was expected among analysts.
Revenue in the quarter totaled $10.28 billion U.S., which was below forecasts of $10.35 billion U.S. Studio revenue dropped 17% to $3.17 billion U.S. in the quarter.
There was also a 14% decline in linear television advertising revenue and a 4% drop in actual distribution revenue.
On a positive note, Warner Bros. Discovery said that it generated $3.31 billion U.S. in free cash flow in the fourth quarter and ended 2023 with $6.16 billion of cash on hand, up 86% from a year earlier.
The company said that it paid down $5.4 billion of debt in 2023, though it still has $44.20 billion of debt remaining.
Also, Warner Bros. Discovery’s flagship subscription streaming service, Max, ended 2023 profitable for the first time with full-year earnings of $103 million U.S.
The company reported 97.7 million global subscribers at the end of Q4 2023, a 2% increase from the previous quarter.
Before today (Feb. 23), the stock of Warner Bros. Discovery has declined 40% over the past 12 months to trade at $9.56 U.S. per share.
