Warner Bros. Discovery stock rises for second straight day as company pays down debt

Warner Bros. Discovery saw its banal emergence for a 2nd consecutive time Thursday, aft announcing it had paid down a information of its indebtedness load this week.

The fiscal update, announced Wednesday, had been overshadowed by the turmoil astatine its quality outlet CNN, wherever CEO Chris Licht was ousted. Shares roseate 7% Thursday aft closing much than 8% higher Wednesday.

The media elephantine has been contending with a dense indebtedness load stemming from the 2022 merger of Warner Bros. and Discovery. The company, which ended the archetypal 4th with $49.5 cardinal successful debt, has been successful the midst of assorted cost-cutting initiatives specified arsenic and layoffs and content spending reductions.

Warner Bros. Discovery's banal roseate successful caller days aft the institution announced it was paying down immoderate of its dense indebtedness load.

In a public filing, Warner Bros. Discovery said it had repaid astir $1.5 cardinal successful indebtedness connected 2 of its loans. The institution besides announced it commenced a $500 cardinal currency tender offer.

That resulted successful $2.05 cardinal successful 2nd 4th indebtedness reduction, astir $1 cardinal much than Wells Fargo had forecast, according to Steven Cahall, an expert astatine the bank.

The expert noted that Warner Bros. Discovery guided that it would person astir $930 cardinal successful 2nd 4th escaped currency flow, aft ending the archetypal 4th with $2.6 cardinal successful cash.

"We instrumentality the indebtedness simplification to bespeak absorption assurance successful 2023 currency procreation and deleveraging," Cahall wrote.

Warner Bros. Discovery has besides been moving to marque its streaming concern profitable. CEO David Zaslav precocious said connected a institution net telephone that the streaming concern is expected to scope profitability successful the U.S. successful 2023, a twelvemonth up of its expectations. The institution precocious relaunched and rebranded its flagship streaming work arsenic Max, combining contented from HBO and its portfolio of cable-TV networks similar the Discovery Channel and TLC.

During the first quarter Warner Bros. Discovery had reported $10.7 cardinal successful revenue, arsenic good arsenic a nett nonaccomplishment of $1.1 billion.