Paramount stock soars 12% after strong earnings report, adding to blockbuster day

Paramount Global's stock jumped in extended trading Thursday after it reported strong revenue and subscription trends in its third quarter earnings report.

The after-hours move came on top of an already-strong day for the media giant. The stock closed more than 10% higher during the regular trading session Thursday.

Paramount – home to brands like CBS, Showtime, BET, Nickelodeon and its namesake movie studio – reported a 38% increase in revenue year-over-year. In the third quarter, streaming service Paramount+ saw 2.7 million net additions to its 63 million total subscriber count. The company also narrowed losses in its streaming segment to $238 million from $343 million a year ago.

Here's how Paramount performed in the third quarter compared to Wall Street estimates:

• Earnings per share: 30 cents vs. 10 cents per share, expected, according to LSEG, formerly known as Refinitiv
• Revenue: $7.13 billion vs. $7.099 billion, expected, according to LSEG

For the period ended Sept. 30, Paramount reported a profit of $295 million, or 43 cents a share, up from $231 million, or 33 cents a share, a year earlier. Adjusted for one-time items, per-share earnings were 30 cents in the period.

"We continue to execute our strategy and prioritize prudent investment in streaming while maximizing the earnings of our traditional business," CEO Bob Bakish said in the release. "Looking ahead, we remain on the path to achieving significant total company earnings growth in 2024."

Paramount and other media closed higher Thursday as streaming device maker Roku surged 30% following its own stellar earnings report.

The company said theatrical revenue increased 63% year-over-year, citing movies such as "Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One" and "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem."

Paramount also expects full-year streaming losses in 2023 to be lower than last year. Overall revenue in the segment jumped 38% to $1.69 billion from a year earlier.

The TV ad market, however, posed a challenge for the company, with advertising revenue dipping 14% year-over-year. The company cited "continued softness in the global advertising market and lower political advertising."

Licensing and other revenue also decreased 7%, with the company citing impacts from labor strikes.