Paramount World (PARA) Q2 earnings report 2024

Paramount World is reducing 15% of its U.S. workforce, or about 2,000 jobs, a part of a broader cost-cutting plan because it prepares for a merger with Skydance Media.

Paramount has recognized $500 million in price financial savings, which embrace the top depend reductions, as a part of $2 billion in synergies associated to its transaction with Skydance. The job cuts, which can start within the coming weeks and largely conclude by yr finish, will goal the corporate’s advertising and marketing and communications division and staff who work in finance, authorized, expertise and different help features, the corporate stated throughout its earnings convention name Thursday.

Paramount agreed to a merger with Skydance Media final month. That deal features a 45-day go-shop interval — by which a particular committee of Paramount’s board might discover one other purchaser — that concludes later this month.

In the meantime, earnings surged as the corporate’s streaming division swung to an sudden revenue — the primary time Paramount has introduced a worthwhile quarter for its direct-to-consumer enterprise.

Shares climbed greater than 5% in after-hours buying and selling Thursday.

This is how Paramount carried out within the quarter in contrast with what Wall Road was anticipating, primarily based on a survey of analysts by LSEG:

• Earnings per share: 54 cents adjusted vs. 12 cents anticipated
• Income: $6.81 billion vs. $7.21 billion anticipated

Second-quarter income dropped 11% and missed analyst estimates as licensing, TV promoting and cable subscription gross sales dropped.

The income drop was the most important miss in comparison with analyst estimates since February 2020, in line with LSEG information. Paramount attributed the miss to a decline in TV licensing income, which may be tough for analysts to mannequin given their begin and finish dates.

Paramount+ income grew 46% on year-over-year subscriber development and better costs. Paramount+ prospects decreased 2.8 million from final quarter to 68 million as the corporate unwound a Korean partnership deal with leisure firm CJ ENM’s Tving streaming platform.

Paramount’s streaming division turned a revenue for the quarter of $26 million after shedding $424 million a yr in the past. Analysts had estimated a lack of $265 million this quarter.

Paramount reaffirmed it is on monitor to achieve U.S. profitability for Paramount+ in 2025. The streaming service has raised costs and lower content material spend.

Paramount’s quarterly revenue is helped by not having an NFL licensing cost for the interval, which can kick in later within the yr.

Shares have slumped 31% to this point this yr amid declines amongst cable subscribers and a tender linear TV promoting market.

Paramount additionally took a $6 billion one-time impairment cost related to the decline in its cable networks. It comes on the heels of a $9.1 billion write-down from peer Warner Bros. Discovery on Wednesday.

The corporate needed to take the cost as an adjustment pressured by its transaction with Skydance.