08:42 AM EDT, 05/09/2024 (MT Newswires) -- Warner Bros. Discovery ( WBD ) on Thursday posted a wider-than-expected first-quarter loss, amid revenue declines in the media and entertainment giant's studios and networks segments.

The company's per-share net loss came in at $0.40 for the March quarter, compared with a $0.44 per-share loss the year before. The consensus on Capital IQ was for a loss of $0.21 per share. The result included a $1.88 billion pretax acquisition-related amortization charge and restructuring expenses. Revenue declined to $9.96 billion from $10.7 billion last year, missing the Street's view for $10.22 billion.

The stock fell 3.8% in recent premarket trading.

Warner Bros., which operates the Max streaming service, saw direct-to-consumer revenue remain nearly flat at $2.46 billion. Global subscribers rose to 99.6 million from 98.5 million year-on-year and from 97.7 million in the previous three-month period.

"We delivered meaningful growth in our streaming business with a nice acceleration in ad sales," Chief Executive David Zaslav said in a statement. "We will soon be rolling out Max to 29 countries across Europe, and the content lineup for Max over the coming year is one of our strongest ever."

Studios segment revenue fell 12% to $2.82 billion, with television revenue moving "meaningfully" lower because of production delays arising from the Hollywood writers' and actors' strikes, among other factors. Games revenue declined "significantly," while theatrical revenue advanced due to "Dune: Part Two" and higher carryover from titles in the prior quarter, according to the company.

Networks revenue slipped 8% to $5.13 billion, despite an 8% gain in content. Distribution revenue slid 7% driven by declines in US pay-TV subscribers, among other factors, while advertising dropped 12% amid audience declines and soft advertising markets in the US and Latin America.

"While our US (subscribers) will be impacted by some seasonality, particularly related to sports in (the second quarter), we're on track for continued robust international growth this quarter and new subscriber highs through the remainder of the year," Zaslav said during an earnings call, according to a Capital IQ transcript.

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