Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) will report its results for the fourth quarter on Thursday, before market opens.
Wall Street expects the company to post earnings per share of $0.04, on a revenue of $9.33 billion, representing a year-over-year decline of about 7%.
Over the quarter, Warner Bros. moved through a sequence of takeover approaches that developed into a competitive bidding process. In October, the company was reported to have rejected an early takeover approach from Paramount while continuing to explore strategic options amid rising deal interest.
As the quarter progressed, bidders prepared proposals, and discussions around a potential sale or separation gathered pace. November then saw the company receive first-round offers from Paramount, Comcast, and Netflix, with parties asked to submit improved bids.
Reports indicated Netflix had put forward a leading offer for key assets, prompting Paramount to revise and sweeten its proposal, while competing bids and shareholder reactions continued through mid- to late December as the board weighed rival approaches and the process moved toward the new year.
According to Alpha’s Quant Rating system, WBD is rated Hold with an overall score of 3.46 out of 5, reflecting grades of A+ in terms of profitability and momentum, but a D- in growth.
Over the past three months, EPS estimates have seen one upward revision and no downward revisions, while revenue estimates have seen no upward revisions and five downward revisions.
An analyst said Warner Bros. faces pivotal outcomes tied to its merger process involving Paramount and Netflix, noting, “the most likely outcome is still that either Paramount or Netflix closes this deal,” and adding, “the real stories with Warner now are the merger, the spinoff, streaming, and the movie slate.”