8 Things We Learned From WWE's First Quarter 2017 Earnings
A middling start, but WWE have lofty goals for the rest of the year.
WWE's first quarter 2017 earnings report was published last week, and it's a typically long-winded affair. Crammed with the usual array of statistics, figures, and analysis, it shines new light on the company's financial situation in the run-up to WrestleMania 33, and presents a mixed bag of results.
As with Q4 2016, there's positive news on the revenue and live event fronts, but other facets aren't as encouraging. "Local content" and expanding into international markets remains a key focus, but there are no indications of how successful this has been yet, despite WWE's apparent satisfaction with the results. Any negatives are mitigated by the company's supreme market position however, and the report looks like a net positive on the whole.
WWE executives George Barrios, Michelle Wilson, and Michael Weitz joined Chairman and CEO Vince McMahon for an investors' conference call on Thursday afternoon, during which they commented on the results, and fielded a number of additional questions. From forthcoming expansion targets to a certain SmackDown wrestler's sudden push, WWE's plans for the rest of 2017 now look a little clearer, even if a number of their talking points were buried in company spin...
8. Revenue Has Increased Again
WWE’s fourth quarter 2016 revenue figures were incredibly encouraging, with the company posting record numbers across the board. A 17% increase on the previous 12 months brought WWE’s Q4 figure to $194.9 million, and finished their year on $729.2 million in total revenue - the highest annual figure in the company's history.
While Q1 2017’s net revenues are slightly lower than the last quarter, they’re still up on the previous year. The promotion brought in $188.4 million altogether, representing an increase of 10% from last year’s first quarter of $171.1 million.
Though revenue should never be considered the be all end all in measuring a company’s success, WWE have every reason to be pleased here. They’ve successfully increased every revenue segment aside from Home Entertainment, Consumer Product Licensing, and WWE Studios, with Live Event income leaping by close to 27% (£25.3 million to £32.1 million.) The divisions that didn't improve shouldn’t be too concerning either: WWE Studios accounts for less than 1% of total earnings, Licensing declined by just 4%, and the Home Entertainment figure reflects the global downturn in physical media as a whole.