Warner Bros. Discovery grows with streaming, but faces challenges

Shares of Warner Bros. Discovery rose more than 3% before the start of Thursday's trading after announcing third-quarter results. The company saw strong growth in its streaming business, but its overall revenue fell short of analysts' expectations due to a decline in the studios segment and a long-term downturn in linear TV.

Warner Bros. Discovery $WBD reported third-quarter revenue of $9.62 billion, less than the $9.81 billion expected by Bloomberg analysts. Compared to the same period last year, that's down 3% from the original $9.98 billion. While the company reported a rise in earnings per share to $0.05, a marked improvement from a loss of $0.17 last year, it remains under pressure due to ongoing problems in its TV segment.

Earlier in the year, Warner Bros. Discovery took a large write-down of $9.1 billion in the first quarter, which was related to the loss of rights to broadcast NBA games. The loss of those rights not only caused financial losses, but also a legal dispute with the…