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Warner Bros. Discovery LOTR

Warner Bros. Discovery LOTR

Today is Friday, February 24, 2023.

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Warner Bros. Discovery LOTR

Despite posting really bad financial earnings, shares of Warner Bros. Discovery (Nasdaq: WBD) only dropped by 1.53% in after-hours trading on Thursday.

Financials: Warner Bros. Discovery reported a loss of 86 cents per share in the quarter and revenue of $11.01 billion; both were below estimates.

Streaming: The company’s global direct-to-consumer subscriber base increased by 1.1 million to 96.1 million in total. But, investors were hoping for more subscribers. The streaming business lost $217 million, which was better than expected.

Drop: Revenue for television networks declined from the previous year.

But: Warner Bros. Discovery also announced that it was working on new “Lord of the Rings” (LOTR) films, which created some positive buzz for investors.

Stock Price: The stock is down 38% in the last 12 months but is up 17% in the last 30 days.

Final Thoughts: Warner Bros. Discovery went through some major restructuring in the past year. While the company is moving on, its balance sheet is still problematic due to debt.

Notables

Notable Earnings Today: EOG Resources (NYSE: EOG), HF Sinclair (NYSE: DINO), Chart Industries (NYSE: GTLS), CIBC (NYSE: CM), Cinemark (NYSE: CNK), Icahn Enterprises (Nasdaq: IEP), Taboola (Nasdaq: TBLA), Gray Television (NYSE: GTN), ACM Research (Nasdaq: ACMR), Barings BDC (NYSE: BBDC), Brady (NYSE: BRC), Carter's (NYSE: CRI), Lamar Advertising (Nasdaq: LAMR), E.W. Scripps (Nasdaq: SSP), U.S. Silica (NYSE: SLCA).

Notable IPOs Today: NYIAX, INC. (Nasdaq: NYX).

Notable Equity Crowdfunding Campaigns Ending Today: CTZN (Mainvest), Thin Film Interconnects (Title3Funds).

Notable Economic Events Today: Core PCE Price Index / PCE Price Index (8:30 a.m. ET), Personal Spending (8:30 a.m. ET), New Home Sales (10:00 a.m. ET), Michigan Consumer Expectations / Sentiment (10:00 a.m. ET).

Block’s “Biggest Differentiator”

Photo by Christiann Koepke / Unsplash

Shares of Square parent Block (NYSE: SQ) jumped 8.71% in after-hours trading on Thursday after the financial technology company posted good financial results.

Financials: Block reported earnings of 22 cents per share in the quarter, which was below estimates. Revenue hit $4.65 billion, which was better than expected.

Details: Overall gross profit grew 40% to $1.66 billion. Square’s gross profit increased by 22% and Cash App, its mobile payment service, saw gross profit rise by 64%.

Quote: “The breadth and cohesion of our Square ecosystem continued to be our biggest differentiator.” - Block wrote in its earnings release.

But: Sales for Bitcoin dropped 7% to $1.83 billion in the quarter.

Final Thoughts: Block's crypto business is still a headwind for the company. And despite the overall positive results, Block still lags behind other fintech players.