WWE’s stock took yet another hit on Tuesday after releasing its earnings report for the fourth financial quarter of 2019. The stock had already dropped 27% overnight drop last week when the company announced it had fired co-presidents George Barrios and MIchelle Wilson (and not announce a succession plan), but by the time the market opened at 9:30 a.m. ET on Thursday the stock dropped another 17% to a $40.24 per share (a 52-week low). It has since started to climb back up, but the WWE‘s investor’s conference call at 11 a.m. ET could shake things up again.
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Update: As of 11 a.m. ET the stock sits at $45.40 per share.
WWE’s revenue for both the fourth quarter and the overall year reached record highs, but took a big loss in live event revenue and WWE Network subscribers (down 10%).
“During the fourth quarter, we expanded the reach of WWE’s live programming and further engaged with diverse audiences across platforms and formats,” Vince McMahon said the earnings report’s press release. “We believe the value of live sports will continue to increase, particularly in today’s evolving media landscape, and we are well positioned to take advantage of this trend to maximize the value of our content.”
“For the year, we achieved record revenue and Adjusted OIBDA. However, with the delay in completing a Middle East distribution agreement as well as lower business performance than anticipated, our results were at the low-end of guidance,” Frank Riddick, interim Chief Financial Officer, added. “As we work to strengthen engagement in 2020, we are pursuing several strategic initiatives that could increase the monetization of our content, including the distribution of content in the Middle East and India as well as strategic alternatives for our direct-to-consumer service, WWE Network. Excluding the potential impact of these initiatives, we expect significant revenue growth based on the full year impact of our new content distribution agreements in the U.S. and anticipate Adjusted OIBDA of $250 to $300 million. Management believes it has the potential to exceed this range, but is unable to provide additional guidance at this time.”
WWE’s next pay-per-view, Super ShowDown, will take place on Feb. 27 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Following that show, the company will have just one more pay-per-view (Elimination Chamber, March 8) before WrestleMania 36 rolls around on April 5 in Tampa. So far just one match has been booked for that show — Brock Lesnar vs. Drew McIntyre for the WWE Championship.
