Time Warner beats thanks to 'Fantastic Beasts'
The New York-based media company, which is set to be acquired by AT&T Inc in an $85.4 billion deal, reported an 11.5% rise in quarterly revenue and said the merger remained on track to close later this year.
Time Warner topped Wall Street's estimates as the company, which owns film studio Warner Bros as well as the CNN and HBO television channels, confronts the challenge of more viewers going online to watch their favorite shows and movies.
On its earnings call with analysts, Time Warner announced that its streaming service, HBO Now, which launched in 2015, has 2 million US subscribers.
Here are the numbers:
- Revenue rose to $7.89 billion from $7.08 billion. Analysts on average expected $7.72 billion, according to Thomson Reuters.
- Revenue from Warner Bros, the company's biggest revenue generator, rose 17% to $3.87 billion.
- Revenue from HBO, home to popular shows such as "Game of Thrones" and the new breakout series "Westworld," rose 5.6 percent to $1.49 billion.
"Fantastic Beasts" grossed more than $800 million globally as of February 5, according to tracking firm Box Office Mojo.
Shares are up .35% at $96.56 a share on Wednesday afternoon.
