CBS Beats Q1 EPS Expectations

CBS Corporation CBS reported results for the first quarter of 2015 on Thursday.

Revenues were $3.50 billion for the first quarter of 2015 compared with $3.57 billion for the prior-year period.

EPS was a record for the quarter, beating estimates at $0.78 compared with $0.77 for the same quarter in 2014.

The Estimize consensus was for EPS of $0.76 on revenue of $3.517 billion.

The Wall Street consensus was for EPS of $0.75 on revenue of $3.502 billion.

Operating income was $702 million for the first quarter of 2015 compared with $791 million for the prior-year period.

Executive Chairman Sumner Redstone said, "There are tremendous opportunities afforded to companies that create premium programming, and Les and his team are capitalizing on all of them. I am confident they have the strategy to keep CBS at the top of its game for many years to come."

Leslie Moonves, President and Chief Executive Officer, stated, “We had terrific first-quarter results in streaming, both internationally and domestically, as well as retransmission consent and reverse compensation, which are steadily making their way toward $2 billion in revenue by 2020 if not before. In addition, our online news channel, CBSN, and our over-the-top service, CBS All Access, are exceeding expectations. We have already expanded CBS All Access to more than half of the country, and we expect it to be offered to 75% of all households by year's end. As we continue to find new ways to monetize our content, our investment in programming will pay off well into the future, and we remain as committed as ever to returning value to our shareholders.”

CBS traded at $61.85 in the pre-market session, up 1.03 percent.