Warner Bros. Discovery's (WBD) Succession Sets Show Record
Warner Bros. Discovery’s WBD HBO series Succession drew a record number of 2.3 million viewers. This will be the final season of the show.
The number of viewers for the opening episode created a new record surpassing the previous record of 1.7 million viewers held by the season three finale in 2021. The number of viewers were 62% higher than the previous season’s premiere.
The show revolves around a business empire of the Roy family and the fight for power within siblings. The show started in 2018. It has received 48 Emmy nominations and 13 wins for the first three seasons.
Jesse Armstrong, a British writer has created the season finale with ten episodes. The finale features patriarch Logan Roy, played by Brian Cox and his four children, Kendall played by Jeremy Strong, Siobhan played by Sarah Snook, Roman played by Kieran Culkin and Connor played by Alan Ruck.
Other HBO’s blockbuster hit shows include Game of Thrones, The Sopranos, The Wire and the recently released Last of Us.
Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. Price and Consensus
Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. price-consensus-chart | Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. Quote
HBO Max Increases Prices to Boost Bottom Line
This Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) company is looking to raise subscription prices to boost its top line. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
Shares of WBD have declined 44.8% in the past year compared with the Zacks Consumer Discretionary sector’s fall of 24.2% in the same period.
WBD reported fourth-quarter 2022 loss of 86 cents per share, missing the Zacks Consensus Estimate of a loss of 3 cents per share. Revenues increased 245.4% year over year to $11 billion, which missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 0.2%.
Management is planning to focus on boosting its bottom line by increasing the subscription prices. Warner Bros. Discovery faces stiff competition from giants like Disney DIS, Netflix NFLX and Amazon.com’s AMZN prime.
Netflix is priced at $15.49 per month followed by Prime Video charging $8.99 per month and Disney charging $7.99 per month. HBO Max recently increased its subscription from $14.99 to $15.99 per month.
Netflix charges premium prices for its exclusive content and is looking to curb sharing of Netflix accounts which would boost its subscribers. Prime offers other services and products with its membership and focuses on gaining revenues from an ecosystem it created. Disney focuses on sci-fi and superhero movies focusing on the goal of targeting kids and young adults.
All streaming companies are under pressure to deliver profits. Due to high content costs and stiff competition, it is very difficult to sustain in the streaming industry. HBO Max recently increased its subscription prices to boost the bottom line. This hike is sustainable because of the premium and exclusive content available on HBO Max.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate profit for first-quarter 2023 is currently pegged at 16 cents per share, indicating a fall of 76.81% year over year.
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