Feb 27 (Reuters) - Warner Bros Discovery ( WBD ) on

Thursday projected at least 150 million users for its streaming

service by 2026, after beating estimates for fourth-quarter

subscriber gains on Max's global expansion.

The rebranding of HBO Max to Max and its international

rollouts have been central to the company's efforts to boost

streaming service subscriptions in a hyper-competitive market.

The company launched Max in markets such as Southeast Asia,

Taiwan and Hong Kong in November and plans to debut the service

in Australia in March.

Max is now available in more than 70 countries and will be

rolled out in Germany and Italy in the first quarter of 2026.

Visible Alpha analysts on average were expecting 135.8

million subscribers for the company's streaming service by the

end of 2026.

Larger rival Netflix ( NFLX ) had a global subscriber base

of nearly 302 million and Disney+ had 124.6 million, according

to latest available data.

Warner's streaming business, which includes the Max and

Discovery+ services, added 6.4 million direct-to-consumer

subscribers in the fourth quarter, zooming past estimates of

4.89 million.

The streaming segment reported adjusted earnings before

interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization of $409 million,

exceeding expectations for $289.1 million, according to data

compiled by LSEG.

Warner Bros Discovery ( WBD ) and peers are navigating a challenging

linear TV market as audiences' shift to streaming services drive

a decline in advertising and subscription revenue.

Advertising revenue at the TV networks division, which

includes Discovery Channel, Animal Planet and Food Network,

tumbled 17% to $1.62 billion.

The company reported revenue of $10.03 billion for the three

months ended December 31, compared with analysts' average

estimate of $10.19 billion.

Excluding items, the company lost 20 cents per share, while

analysts had expected a profit of 1 cent.