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Paramount Global (PARA) to Report Q1 Earnings: What's in Store?

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Paramount Global (PARA - Free Report) is set to report first-quarter 2023 earnings on May 4.

For the quarter, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for earnings has moved south by 7.7% to 12 cents per share in the past 30 days. The figure indicates an 80% plunge from the year-ago quarter’s reported figure.

The consensus mark for revenues is pegged at $7.42 billion, indicating a 1.22% increase from the year-ago quarter’s reported figure.

The company’s earnings beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate in two of the last four quarters and missed the same twice. Paramount Global has a trailing four-quarter negative earnings surprise of 8.49%, on average.

Let’s see how things have shaped up for this announcement.

Paramount Global Price and EPS Surprise

Paramount Global Price and EPS Surprise

Paramount Global price-eps-surprise | Paramount Global Quote

Factors to Consider

Paramount Global’s first-quarter 2023 performance is expected to have benefited from a steady cable network portfolio. The growing traction of Showtime, BET, Comedy Central and Nickelodeon is expected to have boosted the top line.

An expanding content catalog of live sporting events and a solid portfolio of streaming services, including CBS All Access, Showtime OTT, Pluto TV, Noggin and BET+, are expected to have boosted viewership and ad revenues in the first quarter.

In the fourth quarter, global streaming subscribers rose to nearly 77 million, which included the addition of 10.8 million DTC subscribers. Paramount+ subscribers grew to nearly 56 million, following a quarterly increase of 9.9 million subscribers.

The very first release of this year was its original movie Teen Wolf: The Movie. This supernatural thriller teen drama directed by Russell Mulcahy was released on Jan 26.

Pluto TV gained immense popularity with more than 250 live events, linear channels and thousands of hours of on-demand content. Pluto TV partners with more than 175 content providers, including media houses, film and TV studios that help it produce various content.

In the fourth quarter, Pluto TV increased global monthly active users by 6.5 million in the quarter, driven by growth in all markets and expansion into Canada. Pluto TV’s total global viewing hours grew by strong double-digits quarter over quarter and year over year. The trend is likely to have continued in the to-be-reported quarter.

In the to-be-reported quarter, the company launched a new marketing campaign, Popular is Paramount, which highlights Paramount’s strength in making content that is popular among every audience in various platforms. The campaign, Popular is Paramount, is made to focus on the company’s value among investors, distributors, creative communities and advertisers as a strong global entertainment partner.

Advertisers, however, continue to face supply-chain disruptions and labor shortages and many others are contending with rising costs amid record inflation, which have led to cutbacks in spending on advertising. This is expected to have hampered ad revenue growth in the to-be-reported quarter. Paramount has been facing a slump in its ad revenues, which declined 5.2% in fourth-quarter 2022.

Key Developments

In the first quarter, Paramount’s streaming service SkyShowtime struck a programing acquisition deal with Warner Bros. Discovery’s (WBD - Free Report) HBO Max. Under this deal, SkyShowtime will get exclusive rights to 21 European Originals from HBO Max, which will allow SkyShowtime to stream those on its platform.

The new local series, which will be launched as SkyShowtime Originals, include ID (Finland and Sweden), The Winner (Czechia and Slovakia) and Warszawianka (Poland). It will also premiere the second season of Por H o Por B (Spain) and make its first season available as well.

What Our Model Says

Per the Zacks model, the combination of a positive Earnings ESP and a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), 2 (Buy) or 3 (Hold) increases the odds of an earnings beat. But that’s not the case here.

Paramount Global has an Earnings ESP of -51.61% and carries a Zacks Rank #5 (Strong Sell) at present. You can uncover the best stocks to buy or sell before they’re reported with our Earnings ESP Filter.

Stocks to Consider

Here are some stocks worth considering, as our model shows that these have the right combination of elements to beat on earnings this season.

Carvana (CVNA - Free Report) has an Earnings ESP of +19.16% and a Zacks Rank #2 at present. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

CVNA is scheduled to release its first-quarter 2023 results on May 4. The Zacks Consensus Estimate is pegged at a loss of $1.91 per share, suggesting an increase of 33.91% from the prior-year quarter’s reported figure.

Shift Technologies has an Earnings ESP of +33.75% and a Zacks Rank #2 at present.

SFT is scheduled to release its first-quarter fiscal 2023 results on May 11. The Zacks Consensus Estimate is pegged at a loss of $3.22 per share, suggesting an improvement of 54% from the prior-year quarter’s reported figure.

Stay on top of upcoming earnings announcements with the Zacks Earnings Calendar.


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