Operating income increased 31% to $424 million at Warner Bros., despite lower theatrical revenues.
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Time Warner’s reported earnings were $1.51 per share, compared to last year’s $1.15 per share.
Zoetis’ net income was 41 cents per share or $204 million, representing a 24% year over year increase.
Revenue at HBO rose 7.7 per cent in the quarter to to $1.51bn, while Turner, owner of the CNN, Cartoon Network, and TNT channels, recorded a 7.2 per cent rise in revenue in the first quarter, pushed on by a ratings rise at CNN as interest builds around the U.S. presidential election.
The company continues to expect its 2016 full-year adjusted income per common share from continuing operations to be in the range of $5.30 to $5.40.
Time Warner Inc (NYSE:TWX) quarterly revenues were up 2.5%, higher than expected, bolstered by subscription revenue from its cable channels. Domestic advertising revenue rose on account of growth at Turner’s news business. While the company declined to update its subscriber numbers for HBO Now beyond the 800,000 subscribers it disclosed in February, Chief Financial Officer Howard Averill said on the call that HBO’s “mid-single digit” domestic subscription revenue growth “included a sequential increase in the benefit from HBO Now”.
Time Warner shares have climbed 14 percent since the beginning of the year, while the Standard & Poor’s 500 index has risen 1 percent.
In April 2016, Time Warner further increased the reach of HBO Now with HBO Now becoming available on Microsoft’s (MSFT) Xbox One.
The best part of the story for Cramer was that CBS is increasing its charge for ads, which jumped to 12 percent from an expected 9 percent during the quarter.
HBO was up 8% to $1.5 billion in revenue, coming from a 5% gain in subscription revenues and 23% more business from content sales internationally and other revenue. Adjusted operating income increased 10% to $1.2 billion at the cable unit, partially offset by a 4% rise in programming costs. The increase in marketing costs relates to recently premiered and upcoming original series associated with the TBS rebrand. The increase in content and other revenues primarily reflected higher global licensing revenues, partially offset by lower home entertainment revenues.
In the last reported results, the company reported earnings of $1.06 per share, while analysts were calling for share earnings of $1.01.
Warner Bros. revenues decreased 3% to $3.1 billion, due to a smaller take in theatrical box office.
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From its opening through 2 May, “Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice’grossed over $860 million worldwide at the box office”.
