US · Communication Services
Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) stock research: earnings, ownership, and cash flow
Warner Bros. Discovery operates in the Broadcasting industry within the Communication Services sector and is a constituent of the S&P 500. This page connects filing evidence with ownership, insider activity, forecasts, ETFs, and peer context so each dataset can be checked against the others.
Deterministic, source-linked commentary
WBD signals across filings and ownership
Warner Bros. Discovery's latest filing sets the operating baseline. 10-Q covers CY2026Q1. quarterly revenue was $8.9B; year-over-year growth was -1.0%; operating margin was -27.8%; trailing free cash flow was $518.0M. Read together, these figures test whether scale is translating into profit and cash. Verify periods and company footnotes in the original SEC EDGAR filing.
The valuation range should move when WBD's operating assumptions move. The forecast scenarios were updated 2026-05-21. Revenue growth, margins, cash generation, and risk assumptions must be checked against each new filing.
Warner Bros. Discovery is easier to assess when each disclosure is read on its own clock. Use institutional ownership, insider filings, forecast scenarios alongside the filing. Company facts can update before 13F positions, so align every source date and report period before treating a difference as a change in fundamentals.
Business model
Company snapshot
Warner Bros. Discovery operates in the Broadcasting industry within the Communication Services sector and is a constituent of the S&P 500. The latest standardized snapshot records $36.73B of trailing revenue, -$1.94B of net income, and $518M of free cash flow. These figures describe the reported company, while valuation and price require a separate market-data timestamp.
Operating lines
A named product, service, or operating exposure identified in the company description.
Geographic revenue mix
The current standardized filing dataset does not extract a comparable geographic revenue table for every issuer. Review the latest 10-K segment note for domestic and international mix, concentration, foreign-exchange sensitivity, and country-specific regulation.
10-Q · 2026-05-06
What the latest filing shows
Revenue for the latest standardized quarter was $8.89B, while diluted EPS was -1.17. Revenue changed -1% from the comparable period. Gross margin was 36.7% and operating margin was -27.8%. Margin direction matters because it shows whether growth is translating into operating leverage or requiring more cost to support.
Open original SEC filingCY2026Q1
Earnings analysis
| Period | Revenue | Net income | EPS | Operating margin |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CY2026Q1 | $8.89B | -$2.92B | -1.17 | -27.8% |
| TTM | $36.73B | -$1.94B | -0.78 | -5.7% |
| CY2025 | $37.3B | $727M | See filing | 2% |
The standardized data shows revenue growth of -1%, an operating margin of -5.7%, and a net margin of -5.3%. Without a dedicated earnings article, the original filing remains the primary source for management guidance and expectation comparisons.
Scenario analysis
Forecast range
WBD is a NASDAQ-100 stock with a checked price of 27.42, market cap of 68.73B, and revenue of 37.21B. A practical 2026 scenario map is $21-25 in a bear case, $25-32 in a base case, and $32-40 in a bull case. The forecast depends on digital advertising, streaming, connectivity, and media cash flow.
Forecast assumptions
- Revenue growth must be checked against the latest filing and management guidance.
- Current reported operating margin is -5.7%.
- TTM free-cash-flow margin is 1.4%.
- Discount rates and valuation multiples should move when risk-free rates, business risk, or estimate confidence changes.
This is not a buy or sell recommendation. Forecasts are conditional ranges whose assumptions can fail.
Open forecast methodology and scenariosCommunication Services
Peer comparison
| Company | TTM revenue | Revenue growth | Operating margin | Tracked holders |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| WBDWarner Bros. Discovery | $36.73B | -1% | -5.7% | 0 |
| NFLXNetflix | $45.38B | 16.2% | 31.6% | 0 |
| CHTRCharter Communications | $54.77B | -1% | 23.5% | 0 |
| LYVLive Nation Entertainment | $22.68B | 12.1% | 4.5% | 0 |
| OMCOmnicom Group | $17.99B | 69.2% | 11.5% | 0 |
| FOXFox Corporation (Class B) | $17.29B | -8.6% | N/A | 0 |
| FOXAFox Corporation (Class A) | $17.29B | -8.6% | N/A | 0 |
WBD's -1% revenue growth and -5.7% operating margin should be read against peers using the same reporting definitions. A higher margin may reflect pricing power or business mix, while a lower margin can reflect investment, cyclicality, or weaker economics.
Fund ownership
ETF exposure
WBD appears among the disclosed top holdings of 1 tracked ETFs shown below. ETF weights change with price movement, rebalancing, creations, redemptions, and issuer methodology.
| ETF | WBD weight | AUM | Holdings date |
|---|---|---|---|
| XLCState Street Communication Services Select Sector SPDR ETF | 4.16% | $25.19B | May 18, 2026 |
10-K · 2026-02-27
Key risk factors disclosed in the latest 10-K
The categories below are a deterministic research checklist anchored to Warner Bros. Discovery's industry and latest annual filing. They summarize areas investors should locate in Item 1A; they do not replace the company's exact legal disclosure.
- Demand and product-cycle risk: Broadcasting can experience changing customer demand, replacement cycles, and competitive product launches that affect revenue timing.
- Competition and execution: Market share depends on product quality, pricing, distribution, innovation, and management's ability to convert investment into durable customer demand.
- Supply chain and counterparties: Supplier concentration, logistics disruption, component availability, and customer concentration can affect delivery schedules, costs, and working capital.
- Regulation and litigation: Antitrust, privacy, securities, labor, tax, environmental, and industry-specific rules may change costs or restrict products and business practices.
- Financial and market risk: Foreign exchange, interest rates, credit conditions, investment values, and capital-allocation decisions can affect reported earnings and valuation.
Research workflow
Common research questions about WBD
Who is the largest tracked institutional holder of WBD?
The current tracked-manager sample does not identify an active WBD holder. The WBD ownership page will reflect a matching position when one enters the filing dataset.
What does recent insider activity show for WBD?
No recent Form 4 transaction appears in the current WBD window. Check the WBD Form 4 history for later company-officer or director filings.
What business does Warner Bros. Discovery operate?
Warner Bros. The WBD company snapshot connects that business description with reported revenue, profit, and cash flow.
How does WBD compare with a close operating peer?
WBD's revenue growth is -1.0% and its operating margin is -5.7%. Compare those figures with NFLX research using the same definitions.
What do the latest financials say about WBD?
10-Q reports $36.7B of trailing revenue, with revenue growth of -1.0% and an operating margin of -5.7%. The supporting period and source are listed in the WBD filing section.
How strong is WBD's cash return profile?
Warner Bros. Discovery does not show a positive trailing dividend cash outflow in the standardized snapshot, while free cash flow is $518.0M. Review the WBD filing evidence before assessing capital-allocation capacity.
Which assumptions matter most for the WBD outlook?
The WBD range depends on revenue growth, operating margin, cash conversion, and the risk assumptions in each new filing. Recheck them in the WBD forecast section.
Primary and reference data
Sources and methodology
- Filings: SEC EDGAR CompanyFacts, 10-K, 10-Q, 8-K, Form 4, 13F-HR.
- Fundamentals: SEC EDGAR CompanyFacts; market references may use yfinance and Finnhub where explicitly available.
- ETF: Issuer disclosures and the locally dated ETF holdings snapshot.
Methodology: How SnowballHare parses and validates data.
Editorial standards: How research is published.
Disclaimer: Informational only; not investment, legal, or tax advice. Cross-check material facts against original filings before acting.
Reference notes
Data notes
Reporting dates
Use filing dates, report periods, and source links together for WBD. A company filing, a 13F disclosure, a Form 4 transaction, and an earnings release can describe different time windows, so the date beside each row matters before comparing signals.
Ownership context
13F rows are delayed public long-equity snapshots from a selected manager universe. They are useful for seeing which tracked institutions reported exposure, but they do not show every hedge, short position, cash balance, or trade made after the quarter ended.
Insider transactions
Form 4 activity should be read by transaction type, role, value, and remaining ownership. Open-market purchases and sales are different from grants, option exercises, gifts, or tax withholding, and the original SEC filing is still the controlling document.
Earnings and forecasts
Earnings pages and forecast pages are linked when a supported article exists. Treat those pages as context for reported numbers, guidance, margins, and scenario assumptions, then return to the table data when you need the underlying source date or filing trail.