Warner Bros. Discovery Stock Jumps as Record Max Subscriber Gains Boost Results

Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) shares surged Thursday after the media giant posted better-than-expected earnings as its Max streaming service set a record for new subscribers.

The movie, TV, and streaming entertainment provider swung to a profit of $135 million or 5 cents per share in the third quarter, above analysts’ expectations after posting a loss in the year-ago period. Revenue fell 4% to $9.62 billion, short of forecasts.

Warner Bros. Discovery Adds 7.2M Max Subscribers

Warner Bros. Discovery’s Max streaming service added 7.2 million subscribers from the prior quarter, in the biggest quarterly gain since it was launched. Total subscribers reached 110.5 million.

Revenue at the company’s Direct-To-Consumer division rose 8% year-over-year to $2.63 billion. Its Network segment posted a 3% increase in revenue to $5.01 billion, while revenue from its Studios unit slid 17% to $2.68 billion.

Warner Bros. Discovery shares were up nearly 11% in intraday trading Thursday, though even with Thursday’s gains, they’ve lost close to one-fifth of their value since the start of the year.