ViacomCBS stock rallies after earnings beats expectations, as streaming revenue jumps 65%

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Shares of ViacomCBS Inc. VIAC, -2.16% surged 2.9% in premarket trading Thursday, after the media and entertainment company reported first-quarter profit and revenue that rose above expectations, boosted by a 65% jump in streaming revenue. Net income rose to $911 million, or $1.44 a share, from $516 million, or 84 cents a share, in the year-ago period. Excluding nonrecurring items, adjusted earnings per share rose to $1.52 from $1.12, to beat the FactSet consensus of $1.23. Revenue grew 14% to $7.41 billion, above the FactSet consensus of $7.32 billion. Streaming revenue rose 65% to $816 million, with global streaming subscribers increasing 20% to 36 million. On the company's Paramount+ streaming platform, the biggest drivers of subscription sign ups were live sports and specials, as well as kids content. TV Entertainment revenue rose 19% to $3.51 billion, cable network revenue grew 14% to $3.26 billion and filmed entertainment revenue rose 23% to $997 million. ViacomCBS's stock has tumbled 27.7% over the past three months but has gained 4.9% year to date, while the S&P 500 SPX, +0.07% has tacked on 11.0% this year.

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AMC Entertainment stock drops toward sixth-straight loss ahead of earnings report

Shares of AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc. undefined sank 5.4% in afternoon trading Tuesday, putting them on track for a sixth straight loss, ahead of the movie theater operator's first-quarter earnings report due out later this week. The company also announced Tuesday that it has rescheduled its annual shareholder meeting, which was supposed to be held on Tuesday, for July 29, to give its shareholders more time "to have their voices heard" and more time to vote. The stock has now tumbled 19.8% since the company disclosed after the April 27 closing bell plans to sell 43 million new shares to the public, and provided preliminary financial results. AMC is slated to release its first-quarter report after Thursday's close, with the FactSet consensus for a per-share loss of $1.40 on revenue of $157.6 million. MKM Partners analyst Eric Handler said given AMC's preannouncement last week there should not be many surprises in the report. He reiterated the sell rating he's had on the stock since Feb. 1, when the stock was caught up in the frenzy surrounding heavily shorted so-called "meme" stocks. "The business environment for theatres is improving, and we believe there is a good amount of pent-up demand among consumers to return to theatres," Handler wrote in a note to clients Tuesday. "However, given the company's capital structure, we believe AMC would need to exceed its all-time high of adjusted EBITDA [earnings before interest, taxes depreciation and amortization] by 20%...in order to justify its current share price." Although the stock was headed for the longest losing streak since 11-day stretch ended Jan. 5, the stock was still up 333.3% year to date, while the S&P 500 undefined has gained 10.3%.

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