Warner Bros. Discovery reported its fourth quarter 2025 results on Thursday morning, posting total revenue of $9.46 billion and 131.6 million global streaming subscribers. WBD lost $252 million in Q4; adjusted EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) was $2.216 billion.
Overall revenue was down 6 percent from the fourth quarter last year, though the number ought to satisfy Wall Street from an expectations POV. But no one likes an unprofitable company.
Streaming subs rose by 3.5 million from October through December. Advertising revenues dropped 9 percent, with the loss of the NBA on Turner costing WBD about half that. The company’s studio revenues decreased 13 percent vs. the comparable quarter in 2024, mostly due to lower content sales. Global linear networks revenue dropped 12 percent.
In the prior quarter, WBD posted a net loss of $148 million on revenue of $9 billion.
Of course, everything was different back then. Netflix buying WBD was not a (public) thing, and there were only initial reports of Paramount‘s interest. In the summer, Paramount was still in the process of transforming into Paramount Skydance.
In December, Warner Bros. accepted a proposal to be acquired by Netflix for $83 billion. The agreement was to wait for WBD to split and spin off Discovery, and for Netflix to take the WB studios and streaming businesses (and HBO).
David Ellison’s Paramount Skydance is not letting David Zaslav‘s Warner Bros. Discovery go. Following multiple rounds of sweeteners, it seems Paramount may now be in the driver’s seat and Netflix is playing defense, despite the deal that remains in place. Paramount wants the whole thing, Warner Bros. and Discovery, and it is willing to pay a premium.
The split and spin a la NBCUniversal and Versant, which would also send the Turner assets to a Discovery Global standalone company, remains on track as the boards of directors and shareholders sort this mess out. Zaslav would run Warner Bros. (at least until it is acquired) and his current CFO Gunnar Wiedenfels gets Discovery — if Netflix is indeed the final boss and there is a standalone Discovery.
In a letter to shareholders accompanying the fourth quarter and full-year financials, WBD vaguely reiterated the latest in the two-suitors, one-deal situation. It was a preemptive strike to ward off media analysts’ prying questions.
“We will not be answering any questions on this topic during our earnings call,” the letter read.
The earnings call begins at 8:00 a.m. ET/5:00 a.m. PT.
Paramount reported its fourth quarter earnings on Wednesday; find those here. Netflix’s, from January, are here.
