Paramount Skydance raises 2026 EBITDA outlook as WBD merger faces trial
Paramount lifted its adjusted EBITDA target after Q2 growth in streaming and studios, while state litigation keeps its WBD deal unresolved.
By Sofia Marchetti · World Affairs Correspondent
2 min read
Paramount Skydance raised its 2026 adjusted EBITDA outlook to $3.8 billion to $3.9 billion while maintaining a $30 billion revenue forecast, CNBC reported. The Paramount Skydance WBD merger remains subject to a multistate antitrust case, even as the company says it expects the transaction to close.
The revised EBITDA range is an adjusted earnings measure, rather than reported net income. Paramount attributed the higher target to savings from the prior-year combination of Paramount and Skydance, CNBC reported; it still projects revenue growth of 4% for the year.
What did Paramount Skydance report for the second quarter?
For the quarter ended June 30, Paramount reported $6.91 billion in revenue and net earnings attributable to the company of $41 million, or 4 cents a share, according to CNBC. Revenue was slightly higher than a year earlier, while net earnings fell from $57 million, or 8 cents a share, in the comparable period.
The company’s results again showed the split between its streaming and film businesses and its traditional television operations. Direct-to-consumer revenue, including Paramount+, BET+ and Pluto TV, rose 9% to $2.47 billion; film-studio revenue increased 16% to $1.31 billion; and TV-media revenue declined 9% to $3.13 billion, CNBC reported.
Paramount+ added 2 million subscribers during the quarter, ending with 81.6 million global customers, CNBC reported. Paramount said retention was the service’s strongest quarterly result to date, a company assessment. For the third quarter, it forecast total revenue of $6.95 billion to $7.15 billion and said Paramount+ net additions should be roughly unchanged from the second quarter.
What is holding up the Paramount Skydance WBD merger?
Chief Executive David Ellison said in a shareholder letter that Paramount had prepared to complete its acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery and remained confident it would do so. That is management’s view, rather than a certainty about the outcome.
Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery agreed last month to extend the possible closing date as late as June 2027 because a group of state attorneys general has challenged the transaction on antitrust grounds, CNBC reported. A trial in that case is scheduled for March 2027, according to a court filing cited by CNBC.
The U.S. Justice Department’s Antitrust Division and several overseas authorities, including European regulators, have approved the deal, CNBC reported. Those approvals do not end the state case; antitrust law allows challenges to mergers that authorities or plaintiffs argue could reduce competition.
This story draws on original reporting from CNBC.