Paramount Skydance says its DTC streaming biz will be profitable this year
The studio reported its third-quarter earnings on Monday, the first since the Skydance takeover, and now sees $3 billion in cost savings (up from $2 billion).
Paramount Skydance, the product of an $8 billion merger that closed in August, reported third-quarter earnings results on Monday.
Shares climbed in after-hours trading — gains that the stock has held onto into Tuesday morning, with the stock up 5% as of 7:26 a.m. ET. — as the company said it expects its direct-to-consumer streaming business to achieve full-year profitability this year. It said the business, which it calls its top priority, will grow in profitability next year.
The company also said that it now expects annual opex savings from the merger of $3 billion a year, up from previous estimates for $2 billion of cost savings.
Paramount+ ended the quarter with 79.1 million subscribers, better than Wall Street expected and reflecting a 1.4 million subscriber bump from Q2.
Streaming revenue climbed to $2.17 billion, exceeding expectations and up about 17% from the same period last year. Most of that growth came from a 24% jump in Paramount+ revenue. Revenue for the network’s TV business fell 12% from last year to $3.8 billion, driven by a decline in advertising.
The combined company posted adjusted earnings per share of $0.12 in the August 7 through September period (after the merger between Paramount and Skydance closed). For the part of the quarter before the transaction closed, the company posted an adjusted loss of $0.24.
The studio has placed itself at the center of controversy and consolidation in recent months. In July, it announced it would end “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” (and the broader “Late Show” franchise) in May 2026. Many suspected the move to be politically motivated, with the goal of appeasing the Trump administration, since the company highlighted the show as a “#1” in its second-quarter earnings. In August, Paramount announced a $7.7 billion deal with TKO for the streaming rights to UFC. More recently, the company has reportedly made at least three offers to buy rival Warner Bros. Discovery, all of which were rejected.
Paramount isn’t the only entertainment player interested in WBD, though. Warner CEO David Zaslav met with Comcast executives last week. Both Comcast and Netflix have reportedly hired banks to explore a bid for the HBO parent in recent weeks.
