Warner Bros. Discovery, which is at the center of the tug-of-war between Paramount Skydance and Netflix, announced its fourth quarter 2025 financial results on Thursday.
David Zaslav’s company said WBD narrowed its loss to $252 million in the October-December period and added streaming subscribers to nearly 132 million thanks to HBO Max’s increased international expansion.
“With the recent successful launch of HBO Max in Germany and Italy, and the planned launch in the United Kingdom and Ireland on March 26, we expect to reach more than 140 million subscribers in the first quarter of 2026 and 150 million subscribers by the end of the year,” Warner Bros. Discovery said in a letter to shareholders accompanying the results.
However, it is unclear when the market will get its next update on these numbers, as WBD has also warned that Q4 2025 will be the last quarter in which it will regularly report subscriber numbers. The decision to eliminate this practice puts WBD in the recent footsteps of Netflix and Disney.
Among these documents, Warner Bros. Discovery, in an earnings call with analysts on Thursday, announced that it has signed a merger agreement to acquire WBD’s studio and streaming assets, with prospective buyers Netflix and Linear Networks. CEO Zaslav and other WBD executives said in an earnings call with analysts on Thursday that they “will not answer any questions” regarding WBD’s pending takeover battle with avid suitor Paramount, which just upped its bid for the entire company.
“While the Netflix Merger Agreement remains in effect and the Board continues to recommend the Netflix Transaction and has not withdrawn or changed its recommendation, the Board recently determined that the latest offer from Paramount Skydance could reasonably be expected to result in a ‘superior offer to the Company,’ as defined in the Netflix Merger Agreement,” the company wrote. “WBD continues to engage in discussions with PSKY to determine whether a proposal that qualifies as such a “corporately better proposal” can be reached. There can be no guarantee that the discussions with Earth Discovery and PSKY will result in the best possible deal for shareholders. ”
Streaming revenue reached $2.8 billion, up 5% year over year. Studio segment revenue was down 13% to $3.2 billion. WBD’s Global TV Channels segment decreased 12% to $4.2 billion.
In the streaming business, distribution revenue increased 3% ($2.4 billion) and advertising revenue increased 18% to $278 million.
Streaming subscribers reached 131.6 million, an increase of 3.6 million compared to July-September 2025. Domestic subscribers increased by 1.2 million, and overseas subscribers increased by 2.4 million. Overall, the number of streaming subscriptions increased by 14.7 million compared to Q4 2024.
Looking at WBD’s studio division, box office revenue was down 11%, TV revenue was down 18%, and game sales were down a whopping 34%.
Warner Bros. Discovery’s global linear network saw distribution revenue decline 8% and advertising revenue decline 14%. WBD attributed the decline in advertising revenue primarily to a 22% decline in U.S. viewership and the loss of NBA rights.
Wall Street expects earnings per share (EPS) of 0 cents and revenue of $9.37 billion, according to analyst consensus data provided by LSEG. WBD reported a loss of 10 cents per diluted share, or a net loss of $252 million, on revenue of $9.5 billion.
Free cash flow was $1.4 billion. The company’s debt currently stands at $33.5 billion.
