(Reuters) – Discovery Inc beat Wall Street expectations for second-quarter revenue on Tuesday, buoyed by higher paid streaming subscriber additions.
Discovery benefited from the ongoing Tokyo Olympics, seeing more subscribers and higher advertising sales on its network during the second quarter. International advertising sales also rose 88% during the quarter, it said.
Revenue rose about 21% to $3.06 billion in the quarter ended June 30, edging past estimates of $2.99 billion.
The results come at a time when the Animal Planet and TLC-owner is combining with AT&T’s WarnerMedia unit to create a new media business, seeking scale to take on streaming rivals such as Netflix Inc and Walt Disney Co.
Total paid streaming subscribers globally stood at 17 million at the end of the second quarter.
Net income more than doubled to $672 million, or $1.01 per share.
(Reporting by Eva Mathews in Bengaluru; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila and Krishna Chandra Eluri)