By Angela Palumbo
Wall Street wants Paramount Skydance to show streaming growth when the media company reports its first earnings results since winning the bidding war for Warner Bros. Discovery.
Paramount is scheduled to report first-quarter financial results after Monday's stock market close. Analysts surveyed by FactSet expect the company to post adjusted earnings of 15 cents a share on revenue of $7.28 billion.
Just like other media and entertainment companies, Paramount has been dealing with a drop in revenue from its traditional TV division as more people move to on-demand streaming services. Analysts expect TV Media revenue to fall to $4.11 billion, a 9.5% decrease from the prior year, and they expect direct-to-consumer revenue to rise to $2.33 billion, a 14% increase from the prior-year period.
Wall Street also expects Paramount to report that it ended the quarter with 79.9 million paid Paramount+ subscribers, up from 78.9 million in the fourth quarter of 2025.
Paramount was acquired by Skydance Media in August. New CEO David Ellison said in November that investing in the company's direct-to-consumer business was Paramount's "top priority." This is especially important as Paramount competes with larger players like Netflix and Walt Disney's Disney+.
One way Paramount is looking to grow is through a major acquisition. In late February, Paramount won a months-long battle with Netflix to buy Warner Bros., the parent of HBO Max. Warner Bros. announced on April 23 that stockholders voted to approve the merger. The deal is expected to close in the third quarter of 2026, subject to regulatory approval. Shareholders will be listening closely on Monday night for updates from Paramount management on how confident they are about receiving that approval.
Shares of Paramount were down 1.3% Monday to $10.95. The stock has dropped 18% this year.
Write to Angela Palumbo at angela.palumbo@dowjones.com
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May 04, 2026 13:20 ET (17:20 GMT)
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