WWE stock downgraded a day after Q4 earnings announcement

The WWE posted strong fourth quarter earnings as revenue increased 21% to $658.8 million, the highest in Company’s history.  However, that was not enough for investors as the stock was downgraded a day after the earnings announcement.

The WWE reported a net loss of $1.2M adjusted for non-recurring costs which equated to a profit of 4 cents per share.  While the WWE beat analyst expectations, it took a hit as the stock was downgraded to a ‘Hold’ from a ‘Buy’ by The Street Ratings.

The WWE Network reported 1.22 million paid subscribers at the end of Q4.  It was a 49% increase from 2014 Q14.  The WWE announced that it was the fifth largest direct-to-consumer OTT subscription service in the U.S. next to Netflix, Amazon Video, Hulu and MLB.TV.  The WWE Network continues to expand internationally as it extended its reach to Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Japan with plans to expand into the Pacific Rim .  It announced 277,000 international subscribers.  This means that there was roughly 940,000 domestic subscribers and 277,000 overseas.  According to Chris Harrington of The Wrestling Observer, there were 389,000 additions although there was a churn of 405,000 subscribers.  But this quarter showed the most international subscribers since the network was offered internationally.

In January, the WWE was added to the S&P SmallCap 600 Index.

The 4^th Quarter for 2015 brought the annual revenue is up 21% from the previous year.  Per Harrington, the operating income and net income were the highest since 2013 but below the profitabil8ty of the 2007-2010 traditional PPV era.

The stock was down slightly after yesterday’s trading and was down once again on Friday to $14.65.