By: Ryan Scott

Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) earned US$9.9 billion in total revenue in Q3, which represents a 2% increase compared to the same quarter last year. 

Not surprisingly, a major Q3 highlight was Barbie (pictured), which earned more than US$1.4 billion at the worldwide box office—making it the highest-grossing Warner Bros. film in studio history. 

Revenue for the company’s direct-to-consumer segment, which includes distribution, advertising and content, came in at US$2.4 billion, up 5% from US$2.3 billion in Q3 2022. Global subscribers tallied 95.1 million at the end of Q3, down by 700,000 from the same period last year. 

Overall, WBD reported a net loss of US$417 million this quarter. And that’s a big improvement from being US$2.31 billion in the red a year ago. (Q3 2022 was one of the company’s first post-merger quarters.) It also reported a 12% decrease in ad revenue, stemming from soft performances from its domestic general entertainment and news networks, as well as a weaker advertising market in the US. 

Other contributing factors include the industry-wide shift to streaming and Hollywood’s dual strikes, said CFO Gunnar Wiedenfels in an earnings call on Wednesday.