Paramount gets lift from Top Gun: Maverick but streaming losses a drag
PARAMOUNT Global beat Wall Street expectations for quarterly revenue and profit on Thursday (Aug 4), powered by the May release of blockbuster Tom Cruise-starrer Top Gun: Maverick even as streaming subscriber growth slowed.
The sequel to the 1986 action flick Top Gun surged past Disney's Marvel adventure Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness as the highest-grossing movie of the year, bringing Paramount much needed relief in its film unit that has been struggling since the pandemic outbreak.
The film, which crossed US$1 billion in global box office sales, also surpassed Titanic to become the company's No 1 domestic grossing film of all time.
Maverick drove a 126 per cent jump in revenue at Paramount's filmed entertainment business in the second quarter ended June.
Still, shares of the media giant slipped 1.4 per cent before the bell on widening losses in its streaming business.
Losses in its direct-to-consumer segment ballooned to US$445 million, from US$143 million a year earlier.
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Paramount said global streaming subscribers rose to about 64 million. Paramount+, its flagship streaming platform, added 4.9 million subscribers.
The company, formerly known as ViacomCBS, said it removed about 3.9 million subscribers related to its Russia exit.
Paramount earned 64 cents per share on revenue of US$7.78 billion, above analysts' estimates of 61 cents profit on revenue of US$7.57 billion, according to Refinitiv data.
Operating income fell to US$819 million, from US$1.23 billion a year earlier, largely due to investments to bolster original content. REUTERS
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