Warner Bros. Discovery (NASDAQ:WBD) Posts Earnings Results, Misses Expectations By $0.02 EPS

Warner Bros. Discovery (NASDAQ:WBD) announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday. The company reported ($0.06) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.04) by ($0.02), Zacks reports. The firm had revenue of $9.05 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.17 billion. Warner Bros. Discovery had a net margin of 2.00% and a return on equity of 2.14%. Warner Bros. Discovery’s quarterly revenue was down 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.05 earnings per share.

Warner Bros. Discovery Trading Up 1.1%

Shares of Warner Bros. Discovery stock traded up $0.25 during trading on Friday, hitting $22.67. The stock had a trading volume of 30,888,063 shares, compared to its average volume of 48,709,063. Warner Bros. Discovery has a 12 month low of $7.52 and a 12 month high of $23.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 1.04. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $18.44 and its 200-day simple moving average is $13.43. The stock has a market cap of $56.13 billion, a PE ratio of 75.57, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 1.74.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Warner Bros. Discovery news, insider Bruce Campbell sold 150,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $18.00, for a total value of $2,700,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 252,464 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,544,352. This trade represents a 37.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Gunnar Wiedenfels sold 222,210 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $22.50, for a total value of $4,999,725.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 918,940 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,676,150. This trade represents a 19.47% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 1,192,325 shares of company stock valued at $22,818,215 in the last ninety days. 1.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Warner Bros. Discovery

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Brighton Jones LLC grew its stake in Warner Bros. Discovery by 304.9% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 68,950 shares of the company’s stock worth $729,000 after acquiring an additional 51,920 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Warner Bros. Discovery by 6.2% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 65,082 shares of the company’s stock valued at $698,000 after purchasing an additional 3,779 shares during the period. NewEdge Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Warner Bros. Discovery by 50.5% in the first quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 63,254 shares of the company’s stock valued at $679,000 after purchasing an additional 21,228 shares during the period. WINTON GROUP Ltd bought a new position in Warner Bros. Discovery in the second quarter worth approximately $659,000. Finally, Vident Advisory LLC increased its holdings in Warner Bros. Discovery by 5.7% during the 2nd quarter. Vident Advisory LLC now owns 49,290 shares of the company’s stock worth $565,000 after purchasing an additional 2,673 shares during the period. 59.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Rothschild Redb raised Warner Bros. Discovery from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price target on shares of Warner Bros. Discovery from $16.00 to $23.50 in a research report on Friday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on shares of Warner Bros. Discovery from $19.00 to $23.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Barrington Research lifted their price objective on shares of Warner Bros. Discovery from $16.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 28th. Finally, Guggenheim upped their target price on shares of Warner Bros. Discovery from $14.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have given a Buy rating and fourteen have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $21.57.

About Warner Bros. Discovery

Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc operates as a media and entertainment company worldwide. It operates through three segments: Studios, Network, and DTC. The Studios segment produces and releases feature films for initial exhibition in theaters; produces and licenses television programs to its networks and third parties and direct-to-consumer services; distributes films and television programs to various third parties and internal television; and offers streaming services and distribution through the home entertainment market, themed experience licensing, and interactive gaming.