Warner Bros. Discovery earnings tumble amid film studio struggles

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Set us as preferred Warner Bros.Discovery stumbled in the second quarter, demonstrating the hazard of depending heavily on blockbuster returns from its Burbank film studio.Disappointing performances by “Supergirl” and “The Bride!,” drove down quarterly theatrical revenue by 46%.

The tepid showing illustrated how the Warner Bros.studio has fallen since last year when it was riding high at the box office with “Sinners,” and “A Minecraft Movie.” Warner’s lackluster earnings, released Thursday, comes as tech scion David Ellison’s Paramount Skydance remains eager to complete its $111-billion deal to buy Warner Bros.

Discovery to combine the two companies’ streaming operations and the storied film studio with Melrose Avenue’s Paramount Pictures.Overall, profit for Warner Bros.Discovery, which also is the parent of HBO, CNN, TLC and HGTV, plummeted 91% to $149 million, or 6 cents per share, compared to $1.6 billion in the second quarter of 2025 amid the film studio’s blazing run.The company also fell short of Wall Street expectations for revenue, which sank 11% to $8.7 billion, despite noteworthy gains in its HBO Max streaming business.

Warner missed having NBA games on its TNT channel, which contributed to a 27% drop in advertising to $1.4 billion.The NBA’s departure, and the absence of the NHL Stanley Cup finals, contributed to a 17% ratings decline at Warner’s cable networks.

Chief Executive David Zaslav opted not to renew the pricey basketball contract as Warner has been straining to pay down debt brought on by its last merger in 2022.Instead, NBCUniversal picked up the NBA arrangement.

(Expenses were down 27% because the company no longer had to pay NBA rights fees.)Warner executives disclosed the company still is carrying about $30 billion in debt.The company’s earnings revealed continued we...