HBO Owner Time Warner Posts Q3 Profit, Revenue Above Wall Street Expectations

Time Warner Inc. shares rose as much as 2.4% in premarket trade on Wednesday after the media and entertainment company reported third-quarter profit and revenue that were above Wall Street expectations. Time Warner reported net income of $1.47 billion, or $1.87 per share for the quarter, compared with $1.04 billion, or $1.26 per share during the same period a year ago. Adjusted earnings per share came in at $1.83, blowing past FactSet's $1.37 consensus. Revenue for the quarter hit $7.17 billion, up from $6.56 billion during last year's third quarter and above FactSet's consensus of $7.01 billion. Time Warner's network segment provided the lion's share of revenue, increasing 9% to $2.61 billion, with advertising revenues up 2% thanks to Turner's news business. The company said higher domestic rates and growth at Turner's international networks helped boost subscription revenues, though that was partially offset by lower subscriber numbers domestically. Revenue at HBO rose 4%, and revenue at Warner Bros. film division rose 7%. Time Warner, which is currently navigating a proposed merger with AT&T Inc. , has seen shares climb more than 36% in the year to date, outperforming the S&P 500 Index , which is up 3%.