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Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. (WBD)

Communication Services Balanced

Warner Bros. Discovery is a global media giant that creates films, television shows, and news content, while running streaming services like Max.

$26.30

Is Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. a good stock for a UK beginner?

The honest version: There's no rating here and nothing for sale. In its favour: Owns a vast and valuable library of intellectual property. Worth weighing: High levels of debt often associated with the media sector. Below, we lay out what it does, what its numbers mean, and the honest risks, so you can decide for yourself.

No rating · no target price · nothing for sale here
Price+213.8%
= past earnings-report date
Priced in USD - as a UK investor your £ return also moves with the pound-to-dollar exchange rate, on top of the share price itself.
52-week range+98% past year
$26.30
Low $10.76High $30.00
Where today's price sits versus its past year - context, not a signal.
If you had put $1,000 into Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc.
$3,138+214%

Over about 2 years to 2026-07-31. This is the share price only; any dividends would add to it. And it's the USD return - as a UK investor your actual £ return also moves with the exchange rate. Past performance is not a guide to the future, and it could just as easily have fallen.

How much has Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. actually fallen?

−38%

Over the last 2 years of daily prices, Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. fell as much as −38% from a high to a later low. Drops of this size are a normal part of owning a share - worth knowing in advance, so a dip doesn't come as a shock.

Worst peak-to-trough fall in the daily closing price over the period we hold. Past falls are not a forecast - it can fall further, or recover.

Market cap: The company's total value on the stock market - share price times the number of shares. Big = 'large-cap', small = 'small-cap'.
$65.94B
Avg volume: How many shares change hands on a typical day. Higher means it's easy to buy or exit without moving the price.
21.83M
Day range: The lowest and highest price the shares traded at during the latest day.
$25.40 – $26.45
52-week range: The lowest and highest the shares have traded over the past year - a sense of how wide the swings have been.
$10.76 – $30.00
Dividend yield: The yearly dividend as a percentage of the share price - roughly the income you'd earn from dividends alone.
0.0%
Beta: How bumpy the share price is versus the whole market. Above 1 swings more than the market; below 1 is calmer. It's about the ride, not whether it goes up or down.
1.55
How bumpy is it?Beta: How bumpy the share price is versus the whole market. Above 1 swings more than the market; below 1 is calmer. It's about the ride, not whether it goes up or down. 1.55
Calm
Wild
Bumpier than the market

Based on beta - how much the price swings versus the whole market. Bumpier isn't bad; it just means a rougher ride, which matters more the sooner you might need the money.

Why has it been moving?▼ -2% past week · ▲ +98% past year

Prices move on results, news and the mood of the whole market - no single headline explains a day, and a quiet week is usually just noise, not a signal.

The bull case

Dominance in the global streaming market

The bear case

Failure to compete with tech-led streaming rivals

What does Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. do?

This company owns a massive library of entertainment, including iconic film studios and TV networks, making money through advertising, cinema tickets, and monthly streaming subscriptions. They are currently in a tricky transition period as they try to move viewers from traditional cable TV to their digital streaming platforms. It comes down to whether streaming can grow fast enough to offset the fading of their older, traditional television business.

VQGMI
Factor profile

On our factor screen it looks strongest on momentum and value, and weakest on growth.

Value: How cheap the stock looks versus profits, sales and assets (higher = cheaper). 42Quality: How profitable and financially healthy the company is (higher = stronger). 27Growth: How fast revenue and earnings are growing (higher = faster). 10Momentum: How the share price has been trending recently (higher = stronger recent run). 56Income: The dividend income on offer and how sustainable it looks (higher = more/steadier). 16
Quick checks
What's strong
  • Owns a vast and valuable library of intellectual property
  • Strong brand recognition across film and television
  • Significant scale in the global media market
What to watch
  • Quality screens low (27/100)
  • Growth screens low (10/100)
  • Income screens low (16/100)
  • Rapidly changing consumer habits moving away from cable
  • Intense competition from well-funded tech streaming rivals

What do Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc.'s numbers mean?

Forward P/E
846.6
This very high number suggests that investors are expecting the company's profits to be quite low in the near future as they invest heavily in their streaming business.
Higher than most of the 50 Communication Services shares we cover
P/S
1.8
This compares the company's total market value to its annual sales, showing how much investors are paying for every pound of revenue the business generates.
Around the middle of the 51 Communication Services shares we cover
Net Margin
-4.7%
This shows that the company is currently spending more than it earns, resulting in a loss rather than a profit for every pound of revenue.
Lower than most of the 51 Communication Services shares we cover
Beta
1.5
A beta above 1 means the share price tends to be more jumpy and volatile than the wider stock market.

How much money does Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. make?

Revenue and profit by quarter, and how much of each sale turns into profit.

RevenueNet income
$0$2.45B$4.91B$7.36B$9.81BQ1 25Q2 25Q3 25Q4 25Q1 26
Gross margin
45.7%
Net margin
-4.7%
Return on equity
-5.0%

Does Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. pay a dividend?

No - Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. doesn't currently pay a dividend, so the whole return would rest on the share price. Plenty of growing companies reinvest their profits instead of paying them out - neither approach is better or worse, they're just different.

When does Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. report earnings, and how did recent quarters go?

Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. is next scheduled to report on about 2026-08-06 - dates can move, and we don't predict results; this just tells you when to look.

Each quarter a company reports its results against what analysts expected. ‘Beating’ or ‘missing’ is about that expectation, not whether the business is doing well in absolute terms.

Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc.: reported versus expected earnings per share, recent quarters
ReportedExpected EPS: The earnings per share analysts expected for the quarter - the average of their forecasts. 'Beating' or 'missing' is measured against this number.Actual EPSvs expected
2026-05-06$-0.10$-1.17Missed -1110%
2026-02-26$-0.10Missed -2790%
2025-11-06$-0.08$-0.06Beat +29%
2025-08-07$-0.23$0.63Beat +376%
2025-05-08$-0.12$-0.18Missed -53%
2025-02-27$0.03$-0.20Missed -879%

Across the last 6 quarters here, Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. came in ahead of what analysts expected 2 times. One quarter is noise, not a trend.

See who else reports over the next two weeks →

Reported vs expected earnings per share (EPS) from published results; the expectation is the analyst consensus, not our view. Report dates are estimates that can move.

More in Communication Services

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What are the scenarios for Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc.?

An illustrative range for the year ahead, with the assumption behind each case — not a prediction or a price target.

$31$26$17today · $26▲ Bull · $30• Base · $26▼ Bear · $22in 1 yearILLUSTRATIVE · NOT A PREDICTION OR PRICE TARGET
Bull
+10% to +15%Strong subscriber growth for streaming services
Base
-5% to +5%Steady performance in traditional media
Bear
-10% to -20%Higher than expected costs for content production

What are the pros and cons of Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc.?

3bull points
6bear points

How many points the write-up makes each way — a balance check, not a score or verdict.

The bull case3
  • Owns a vast and valuable library of intellectual property
  • Strong brand recognition across film and television
  • Significant scale in the global media market
The catch3
  • High levels of debt often associated with the media sector
  • Struggling to turn a profit in the current financial climate
  • Declining revenue growth: How fast the company's sales grew versus a year ago. in a competitive landscape
Key risks3
  • Rapidly changing consumer habits moving away from cable
  • Intense competition from well-funded tech streaming rivals
  • High sensitivity to economic downturns affecting advertising spend
What would flip the thesis

The write-up's own warning lights — if these start happening, the case above changes.

Confidence: medium · data: USD · flags: pe, earnings_growth · Charts by TradingView Lightweight Charts™
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Built from public filings & market prices, checked for an education-only tone, and never a price target. How we make these →

This plain-English summary was auto-generated on 2026-08-02 from public data and checked for an education-only, no-advice tone (the figures above carry their own, usually fresher, 'as of' date). It's information, never a recommendation.

Figures as of 2026-08-02. Prices may be delayed and numbers can go stale - always double-check before acting.