HBO Max, HBO Reach 76.8M Global Subscribers in Q1, Up 3M to Year-End; WarnerMedia Profit Compressed by CNN+, Streaming Spends

HBO Max and HBO had 76.8 million global subscribers as of March, up 3 million from the previous quarter and 12.8 million from the previous year. As the parent company of WarnerMedia, which merged with Discovery on April 8, AT&T said its last quarterly figures were 48.6 million internal subscribers, increasing by 4.4 million per year.

“AT&T has entered a new era,” said CEO John Stankey.

According to AT&T, this is primarily due to the success of its local and international retail customers. Internal subscriber ARPU was $11.24.

WarnerMedia’s operating income fell $1.3 billion due to investment in HBO Max and the launch of CNN+. Costs increased with higher programming and market costs. Reduction in ad revenue.

Those numbers will follow market rejection after Netflix announced slow bush and forecasts earlier this week. Investors will review the number of competitors posting in the industry looking for any signs of health.

WarnerMedia First Quarter Summary:

Revenue was $8.7 billion, up 2.5% from the prior year due to higher subscription revenue and higher content and other revenue, partially offset by lower ad sales.

Subscription revenue rose 4.4%, mainly reflecting growth in HBO Max.

Content and other revenues were up 3.4% to $3.1 billion due to increased theater and HBO Max licenses, partially offset by lower television licenses. Ad revenue fell 3% to $1.7 billion, partially offset by high sports, due to the strong comparison between low-level viewers and the previous year’s political ads.

Operating expenses increased 13% year-over-year to $7.4 billion, driven by higher marketing costs, higher programming costs and additional selling costs associated with DIRECTV’s share of advertising revenue.

The operating result fell 32.7% to $1,300 million due to investments in HBO Max and the launch of CNN+. Operating margin was 15.1% compared to 23%.