Discovery Communications Reports Improved Q2 Earnings, Revenue

Discovery Communications Inc. reported improved second-quarter earnings on Tuesday that came in above Wall Street expectations. Net income for the quarter was $408 million, or 66 cents per share, compared with $286 million, or 44 cents during the same quarter last year. Adjusted earnings for the quarter were 71 cents, above the 57 cents per-share FactSet consensus. Revenue for the quarter hit $1.708 billion, compared with $1.654 billion in the year earlier period. The FactSet consensus on revenue was $1.710 billion. Advertising revenue for Discovery's U.S. networks was $471 million during the second quarter, an improvement compared with last year's $447 million during the same quarter. Discovery shares were inactive in premarket trade and are down more than 7% in the year to date, underperforming the S&P 500 Index , which is up more than 6%.