{"id":12259,"date":"2019-04-27T10:22:23","date_gmt":"2019-04-27T09:22:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/prowrestlingjournal.com\/?p=12259"},"modified":"2019-04-27T10:22:35","modified_gmt":"2019-04-27T09:22:35","slug":"wwe-reports-first-quarter-2019-results-24-04-2019","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/prowrestlingjournal.com\/index.php\/2019\/04\/27\/wwe-reports-first-quarter-2019-results-24-04-2019\/","title":{"rendered":"WWE Reports First Quarter 2019 Results (24\/04\/2019)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Reported by Ciaran James@<\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/TheCiaranJames\">TheCiaranJames<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong><em>Maintains Path to Record Full-Year Performance<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>First Quarter 2019 Highlights<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Revenues were $182.4 million as compared to $187.7 million in the prior year quarter<\/li><li>Operating income reflected a loss of $6.8 million as compared to income of $21.8 million in the prior year quarter<\/li><li>Adjusted OIBDA<sup>1<\/sup>&nbsp;of $12.4 million was within the range of guidance ($9 million to $14 million), and reflected an anticipated year-over-year decline primarily due to strategic investments<\/li><li><em>WWE Network<\/em>&nbsp;average paid subscribers<sup>2<\/sup>&nbsp;increased 2% to 1.58 million paid subscribers, consistent with the Company\u2019s guidance<\/li><li>Digital video views increased 15% to 7.7 billion; hours consumed increased 23% to 300 million hours across digital platforms; and social media followers increased 12% to over 1.0 billion<sup>3<\/sup><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Selected&nbsp;<em>WrestleMania<\/em>&nbsp;Highlights<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><em>WrestleMania<\/em>&nbsp;(April 7, 2019) broke the record for MetLife Stadium\u2019s highest grossing entertainment event at $16.9 million, attracting a capacity crowd of 82,265 fans<\/li><li><em>WWE Network<\/em>&nbsp;subscribers viewed 23.2 million hours during&nbsp;<em>WrestleMania<\/em>&nbsp;week, which was roughly on par with the same week last year<\/li><li>During&nbsp;<em>WrestleMania<\/em>&nbsp;week, 17.9 million hours were consumed on digital and social media platforms, up 29% from the prior year<\/li><li><em>WWE Network<\/em>\u2019s total subscribers reached 2.0 million on April 8, 2019, the day after&nbsp;<em>WrestleMania<\/em><\/li><li><em>WrestleMania<\/em>&nbsp;featured a historic, first-ever women\u2019s main event starring Ronda Rousey, Charlotte Flair and Becky Lynch<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>STAMFORD, Conn., April 25, 2019<\/strong>&nbsp;&#8211; WWE (NYSE: WWE) today announced financial results for its first quarter ended March 31, 2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cDuring the quarter, we continued to execute our strategy and achieved targeted financial results,\u201d stated Vince McMahon, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. \u201cWhile engagement metrics over the past two quarters were impacted by Superstar absences, we believe they will improve as our talent return and we launch our new season following a successful&nbsp;<em>WrestleMania<\/em>. We remain excited about the future, particularly with our debut on Fox in October.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">George Barrios, Co-President, added \u201cIn the quarter, we delivered Adjusted OIBDA within the range of our public guidance and continue to target full-year record revenue of approximately $1 billion and record Adjusted OIBDA of at least $200 million. Our primary focus is to deliver record results while investing in our key priorities: content creation, localization and digitization.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>First-Quarter Consolidated Results<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Revenues<\/strong>&nbsp;were $182.4 million as compared to $187.7 million from the prior year quarter as the increased monetization of content as reflected in the Media segment was more than offset by a reduction in live event ticket revenue and lower merchandise sales.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Operating Income<\/strong>&nbsp;was a loss of $6.8 million as compared to income of $21.8 million in the prior year quarter, reflecting a decline in revenue and increased fixed costs, including strategic investments, as well as higher stock compensation costs driven by the increase in the Company\u2019s stock price. The Company\u2019s Operating income margin declined to (4%) from 12% in the prior year quarter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Adjusted OIBDA<\/strong>&nbsp;(which excludes stock compensation) was $12.4 million as compared to $35.2 million. The results reflected an anticipated decline and were within the range of the Company\u2019s guidance ($9 million to $14 million). The Company\u2019s Adjusted OIBDA margin decreased to 7% from 19%.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Net Income<\/strong>&nbsp;reflected a loss of $8.4 million, or a loss of $0.11 per diluted share, as compared to net income of $14.8 million, or earnings of $0.18 per diluted share, in the first quarter of 2018. This decrease was primarily driven by the change in operating performance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Effective Tax Rate<\/strong>&nbsp;was 26%, consistent with that of the prior year quarter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Cash flows generated by operating activities<\/strong>&nbsp;reached $6.7 million as compared to $2.6 million in the prior year quarter as favorable changes in working capital more than offset lower operating performance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Free Cash Flow<\/strong>&nbsp;demonstrated a $10.1 million use of cash as compared to a $1.8 million use of cash in the first quarter of 2018 as the change in operating cash flow was offset by a $12.4 million increase in capital expenditures primarily associated with the Company\u2019s workspace plan.<sup>4<\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments<\/strong>&nbsp;were $338 million as of March 31, 2019, and the Company estimates&nbsp;<strong>debt capacity<\/strong>&nbsp;under its revolving line of credit of approximately $100 million.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>First-Quarter Key Operating Metrics<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">During the fourth quarter 2018 earnings call, WWE management discussed the absence of several talent and their belief that these absences had a negative impact on the Company\u2019s engagement metrics. Management believes that these absences continued to impact engagement in the first quarter 2019 as domestic TV ratings for\u00a0<em>Raw<\/em>\u00a0and\u00a0<em>SmackDown<\/em>\u00a0declined approximately 14% and 13%, respectively, and average attendance at the Company\u2019s live events in North America declined 11%.\u00a0<em>WWE Network<\/em>\u00a0average paid subscribers increased 2% and digital video consumption increased 23%. Looking to the future, management believes the Company\u2019s engagement metrics will improve with the return of its talent, the emergence of new storylines and new Superstars, and as the Company launches a new season of WWE following a successful\u00a0<em>WrestleMania<\/em>. Moreover, management remains excited about the debut of\u00a0<em>SmackDown Live<\/em>\u00a0on Fox in October. The debut will mark the first time WWE will be available live 52 weeks a year on a premier broadcast platform. In addition to absolute performance, management believes relative performance is critically important as it illuminates the value of WWE within the pay TV ecosystem. In the first quarter, when excluding NASCAR\u2019s premier event,\u00a0<em>The Daytona<\/em>\u00a0500, WWE delivered greater average viewership than any professional sports league other than the NFL<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The full press release can be viewed on the following link <a href=\"https:\/\/corporate.wwe.com\/~\/media\/Files\/W\/WWE\/press-releases\/2019\/1q19-earnings-pr.pdf\">WWE press-releases 2019<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Reported by Ciaran James@TheCiaranJames Maintains Path to Record Full-Year Performance First Quarter 2019 Highlights Revenues were $182.4 million as compared to $187.7 million in the prior year quarter Operating income [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":12254,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_bbp_topic_count":0,"_bbp_reply_count":0,"_bbp_total_topic_count":0,"_bbp_total_reply_count":0,"_bbp_voice_count":0,"_bbp_anonymous_reply_count":0,"_bbp_forum_subforum_count":0,"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[2,185],"tags":[500],"class_list":["post-12259","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-featured","category-wwe","tag-wwe-financials"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p9jnWd-3bJ","jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/prowrestlingjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/wwe-logo.png?fit=1000%2C563&ssl=1","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/prowrestlingjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12259","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/prowrestlingjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/prowrestlingjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/prowrestlingjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/prowrestlingjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12259"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/prowrestlingjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12259\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12260,"href":"https:\/\/prowrestlingjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12259\/revisions\/12260"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/prowrestlingjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12254"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/prowrestlingjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12259"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/prowrestlingjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12259"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/prowrestlingjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12259"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}