Warner Bros. Discovery CFO Gunnar Wiedenfels On Strikes Savings “In Low $100M Range”; Release Dates Remain Fluid, Outlook “Assumes Return To Work In Early September”

deadline.com:

While Warner Bros Discovery CEO David Zaslav on this morning’s Q2 earnings call for the conglom is “hopeful that all sides will get back to the negotiating room soon and that these strikes get resolved in a way that the writers and actors feel that they are fairly compensated,” WBD CFO Gunnar Wiedenfels served up info that there were “modest cash savings” when it came to the dual strikes. “We estimate were in the low $100M million range during the quarter,” specified Wiedenfels.

This morning for the conglom in Q2, free cash flow was by far the standout financial metric, hitting $1.7 billion, more than double the $789 million from Q2 2022 and outstripping Wall Street forecasts.

Wiedenfels said that WBD’s outlook is for another $1.7B to get freed up in cash flow for Q3 with “subsequentially larger savings from the strikes” and the Barbie box office boom (which is approaching $1 billion worldwide).

This is poised to put the free cash flow at $4.5B for the year and adjusted EBITA around $11B to $11.5B. Wiedenfels said that WBD’s “modeling assumes early return to work date in early September.