Paramount Global PARA is set to report first-quarter 2022 on May 3.
For the quarter, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for earnings has moved southward by 6% to 47 cents per share in the past 30 days. The figure indicates a 69.08% plunge from the year-ago quarter’s reported figure.
The consensus mark for revenues is pegged at $7.47 billion, calling for a 0.72% 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, missing in one and meeting in the other. Paramount Global has a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 1.49%, on average.
Let’s see how things have shaped up for this announcement.
Factors to Consider
Paramount Global’s first-quarter performance is expected to have benefited from a solid cable network portfolio. The growing traction of Showtime, BET, Comedy Central and Nickelodeon is expected to have boosted the top line.
During the to-be-reported quarter, Paramount+ witnessed its most successful week ever. It added one million new subscribers and set a new record for total signups since its rebrand. The service registered a new record for the highest level of subscriber engagement and most hours streamed.
Improvement in the ad-spending environment, driven by the return of live sports globally, is expected to have been a key catalyst in driving ad revenues, contributing 28% to the company’s top line in the first quarter.
An expanding content catalog of live sporting events and a solid portfolio of streaming services (both advertising and subscription-based offerings), including CBS All Access, Showtime OTT, Pluto TV, Noggin and BET+, are expected to have boosted viewership and ad revenues in the first quarter.
Pluto TV gained immense popularity with more than 250 live, 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 last reported quarter, theatrical revenues logged $39 million compared with the year-ago quarter’s $4 million. Content-licensing revenues of $1.9 billion increased 44.6% year over year. This momentum is expected to have continued in the to-be-reported quarter.
Paramount Global Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise
Paramount Global price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | Paramount Global Quote
Key Q1 Development
On Mar 24, Paramount Global inked an agreement with Avid Technology AVID. Per the agreement, Avid’s managed cloud solutions will be available to Paramount’s creative teams across the globe for video content production.
According to the agreement, Paramount’s production teams in Asia-Pacific, Europe and the United States would be able to create content on the open Avid MediaCentral production platform, Avid Media Composer software and the Avid NEXIS media storage.
On Feb 15, the company announced that it would become Paramount Global, effective Feb 16, bringing together its leading portfolio of premium entertainment properties under a new parent company name. The company also announced detailed plans to accelerate the global momentum behind Paramount+, unveiling new content, enhanced product offerings and continued international expansion.
On Jan 21, Paramount Global recently announced that it renewed its CBS Television Network affiliation agreement with Nexstar’s NXST wholly-owned subsidiary Nexstar Media and its operating partners in 39 markets across the country.
Per the agreement, Nexstar’s CBS affiliates will continue to be available locally to Paramount+ subscribers and widely-distributed Virtual Multichannel Video Programming Distributor (vMVPD) platforms.
On Jan 13, Paramount Global and Comcast’s CMCSA Comcast Cable entered into a distribution agreement per which the former’s full portfolio of channels will be available to the latter’s Xfinity customers.
The multi-year deal also expands Comcast’s rights to include BET+.
Zacks Rank
Paramount Global has a Zacks Rank #5 (Strong Sell) currently.
PARA is down 3.5% in the year-to-date period compared with the Media Conglomerates industry’s decline of 20.6% and the Consumer Discretionary sector’s fall of 23.6%.
You can see the complete list of Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.
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