By Emon Reiser
World Wrestling Entertainment Inc. is scheduled to report its third-quarter earnings after the Wednesday market close. Here’s what you need to know.
NET INCOME: The Stamford, Conn., media and entertainment company is expected to report net income of $42.2 million, or 50 cents a share, down 3% from $43.5 million, or 52 cents a share, in the year-ago quarter, according to FactSet. Adjusted for certain one-time items, adjusted earnings are expected to be 48 cents a share.
SALES: WWE is slated to post sales of $283.1 million in the third quarter, up 10.7% from the same period a year ago.
WHAT TO WATCH
VIEWERSHIP: Pay-per-view matches continue to boost revenue from the at-home audience, especially following a licensing deal to extend the WWE Network to Peacock, the streaming platform of Comcast Corp.’s NBCUniversal unit. In the second quarter, WWE touted rising viewership that culminated in its most-watched episode of SummerSlam since March 2020, with 2.2 million viewers. Co-Chief Executive Nick Khan previously said WWE expects to see another influx of viewers in the back half of the year.
CONSUMER PRODUCTS: WWE merchandise is another potential source of substantial sales for the company. Its trading card line with Panini, which partners with other professional leagues including the National Football League and National Basketball Association, has already exceeded full-year performance expectations during the first half of 2022. Additional product drops, the company says, are expected to provide more growth to the top line.
LIVE EVENTS: WWE tickets for in-person events have proven to be hot commodities in fiscal 2022 as fans buy out seats at a historical clip. In 40 years, the company has never sold as many tickets as it had for WrestleMania without a full schedule on the calendar, WWE current chief content officer, Paul Levesque, said during the company’s second-quarter earnings call. The company is capitalizing on its well-attended events by customizing its catalog of goods to the venues where they’re sold. Merchandise with event-, location- and storyline-specific designs have made in-venue sales a revitalized business for the company, Khan added.
Write to Emon Reiser at emon.reiser@wsj.com
