UPDATE: Time Warner Posts Better-Than-Expected Q1 Results

Time Warner

reported upbeat first-quarter results. Time Warner's quarterly net income from continuing operations surged to $1.29 billion, or $1.42 per share, versus a year-ago profit of $754 million, or $0.79 per share. On an adjusted basis, Time Warner earned $0.91 per share, beating analysts' estimates of $0.88 per share. Its revenue climbed 9% to $7.55 billion compared to $6.94 billion. However, analysts were estimating revenue of $6.61 billion. Its operating income climbed 37% to $1.9 billion, while adjusted operating income surged 7% to $1.5 billion. The company's press release offered the following comment from Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Jeff Bewkes: “We are off to a very strong start in 2014, with results that demonstrate both the returns we can achieve on our investments in great storytelling and the growth potential of our businesses. Excluding Time Inc., which we expect to spin off as an independent publicly-traded company this quarter, we grew first quarter Revenues by 10%, Adjusted Operating Income by 12%, and Adjusted EPS by 26%. In the first quarter, Warner Bros. picked up where it left off after a record-breaking year in 2013, with The LEGO Movie launching yet another franchise for us and leading all releases at the domestic box office. Combined with its promising slate of movies for the rest of the year and strong lineup of TV shows to be unveiled at the upfronts, Warner Bros. is positioned to have another excellent year in 2014. Home Box Office continues to be red hot, led by the debut of True Detective, the most-watched freshman series in HBO's history. And the Season 4 premiere of Game of Thrones on April 6 drew HBO's largest audience since The Sopranos finale. Turner also made history by bringing the NCAA Men's Basketball Final Four to cable for the first time ever. The success of the NCAA Tournament also helped TBS maintain its position as ad-supported cable's #1 network in primetime among adults 18-34 and 18-49. It also showcased the importance and vibrancy of our TV Everywhere initiatives, with a more than 40% increase in streams for our March Madness Live service over last year. Another standout at Turner was Adult Swim, which again finished the quarter as the #1 ad-supported cable network in total day for Adults 18-34. And CNN reaffirmed that it is the place the world goes for authoritative coverage during major news events, with delivery in its key demographic up over 50% in March. Further demonstrating our commitment to shareholder returns, during the quarter we returned almost $1.3 billion to our shareholders in the form of share buybacks and dividends.” Time Warner shares fell 0.52% to close at $64.74 yesterday.