Courtesy of Benzinga.
World Wrestling Entertainment (NYSE: WWE) is moving higher on the Thursday morning session as a result of better than expected results, along with key business developments that will extend the company’s distribution of content into Canada more effectively.
With the products continued expansion, and a guidance range contingent upon subscriber figures, investors have bid the stock up in Thursday’s early morning trade.
The company reported “Q2 EPS of $(0.18) versus the estimated $(0.20), beating by $0.02. EPS were Down 357% from the same quarter last year. Revenue came in at $156.30M versus the estimated $157.90M. Sales were Up 3% year over year.”
The company beat on earnings, but more importantly key developments also came in through the news. Rogers Media, states in a press release:
“Rogers will be the exclusive distribution partner of all WWE pay-per-view events throughout Canada and will sponsor an application to the CRTC to bring the popular WWE Network to Canada. Starting August 12, a preview of WWE Network content, including live WWE pay-per-view events, groundbreaking original series, live in-ring action, reality shows and a video-on-demand library, will be available on a subscription basis on Rogers Channel 512. Rogers will offer this WWE Network content preview subscription to all cable, satellite and IPTV providers across Canada.”
Source: Worldwide Wrestling Entertainment
However what was of particular interest coming out of the earnings report was the guidance range of OIBDA (operating income before depreciation and amortization) $(10) million to $230 million, in operating income for 2015. Currently, analysts on a consensus basis anticipate WWE to report an EPS of $.62 in its 2015 fiscal year, which translates into $46.62 million in terms of net income.
If WWE comes in at the mid-end of the OIBDA range (approximately $100 million), one can deduce that outlook beat consensus expectations. Furthermore, the Canada deal that was released earlier in the day indicates that WWE may grow subscriber figures at a higher rate.
