Warner Bros. Discovery’s Wall Street nightmare is still in full swing, with the company’s share price continuing to stumble even after Thursday’s quarterly results release in which the company reported a $9.1 billion write-down due to the decline in value of its linear TV networks.
As of Monday afternoon, WBD’s NASDAQ price was $6.72/share, down 4.5% on the day – about 15% since the release of its quarterly report and 42% since the start of 2024. The conglomerate’s market capitalization lost another $750 million since the close of trading last Thursday and now stands at $16.45 billion, about a third of the $50 billion the company raised after the WarnerMedia-Discovery merger was completed in April 2022.
The Warner Bros. film group had given CEO David Zaslav and his team plenty to smile about with hits like “Barbie,” “Wonka” and “Dune 2.” But that success was offset by WBD’s ongoing struggle with the decline of linear television, a problem exacerbated by the loss of NBA television rights to Turner Sports after the 2024-25 season.
CFO Gunnar Wiedenfels told shareholders last week that the NBA loss was a “triggering event” for the company to take a one-time impairment charge that severely reduced the value of the TV assets on its books. But the industry-wide decline in linear TV and advertising on that platform, which media companies have relied on for decades, was also a major factor.
The falling share price, fueled by Wall Street investors surprised by quarterly reports that came in well below forecasts, is increasing the pressure on Zaslav and his team to turn things around. WBD is focused on making its streaming service Max profitable. Upcoming seasons of HBO hit series such as “The Last of Us” and “The White Lotus” will drive subscriber numbers, as will franchise spin-offs such as “The Penguin” and “Dune: Prophecy.”
In the film division, Warner Bros. was virtually absent at the box office over the summer, with “Furiosa,” “Trap” and “Horizon: An American Saga” barely making a mark in theaters, but the upcoming one-two punch of “Beetlejuice” and “Joker” sequels could change that in the fall. Longer term, Warner Bros. is hoping that 2025 will bring a revival of its crown jewel, DC, with James Gunn’s “Superman” reboot of the DC Cinematic Universe.
