Skydance Corporation

11/09/2026 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 11/09/2026 15:04

Business/Financial Results (Form 8-K)

1 See Supplemental Disclosures Regarding Non-GAAP Financial Measures.
2 Source: Skydance rankings based on Nielsen data. Includes Paramount, HBO and Warner Bros. productions;
based on P2+ average audience during first 35 days of playback
3 Source: Skydance rankings based on Nielsen Streaming Content Ratings data. Includes Paramount, HBO and
Warner Bros. productions; based on P2+ audience viewing hours
4 As of the latest published The Gauge report for August 2026.
5 DTC revenue for the combined company is calculated on a pro forma basis assuming the WBD Merger occurred on
January 1, 2025.
2
November 9, 2026
Highlights
•Paramount Skydance Q31 (excludes WBD)
◦Paramount Skydance Q3 net earnings was $73 million and adj. EBITDA was $1.0
billion, a 14% margin on revenue of $7.0 billion, which grew 5% year-over-year.
Paramount remains on track for the high end of its 2026 profitability outlook at
$3.9 billion.
◦Paramount+ revenue grew 21%, its fastest quarterly growth this year, with
ARPU up approximately 14%. Studios revenue grew 23% and TV Media achieved
a 34% adj. EBITDA margin.
•Skydance (combined company)
◦Completed the acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery on October 6, 2026.
◦Targeting at least $6 billion of annualized run-rate synergies within three years,
with progress underway across more than 20 workstreams.
◦Executing our operational plan to reduce net leverage ratio to 3.0x by the end of
2029 and reach investment-grade credit metrics.
◦Planning to launch a bundled offering of HBO Max and Paramount+ in early
2027.
◦Skydance produced 7 of the top 10 most watched series across linear and
streaming2 and the top 4 original titles on streaming.3 Across Paramount and
Warner Bros. platforms, Skydance is the second largest media distributor by
share of total U.S. TV time, per Nielsen's The Gauge.4
◦DTC Q3 pro forma revenue grew 15%.5
◦In Q4, we expect continued strong DTC revenue growth, Skydance TV trends to
remain consistent with recent quarters, and the improved Paramount film slate
results to be more than offset by underperformance of the Warner Bros. film
slate.
3
Fellow shareholders,
It has been just over a month since we launched the combined company, Skydance, and the
energy across our organization is unmistakable. We came together with a clear mission to
build the next generation media and entertainment company powered by creativity and
technology. Our teams are bringing discipline and urgency and early progress is already
evident.
This is a demanding time for our industry, and we are starting from a strong point as the
second largest media distributor by share of total U.S. TV time after YouTube, per Nielsen. But
audiences have more choices than ever, technology is reshaping how stories are made and
experienced, and the competition for attention is relentless. Legacy business models are being
disrupted, and we see that as an opportunity. We are creative-first, audience-focused, tech-
forward, and globally scaled. We believe we have the right assets, the right capabilities and
the right strategy to win by executing on our three strategic goals:
•Establish Skydance as the premier global content engine and the home for the
world's leading storytellers.
•Accelerate our integrated direct-to-consumer platform with the best content,
leading-edge technology, and a superior fan experience.
•Optimize our highly profitable TV portfolio, anchored by CBS in the U.S., to reach
audiences globally across every entertainment vertical.
To achieve all of this, we will:
•Win in storytelling by leveraging our creative capabilities, talent relationships,
production prowess and expansive library of iconic IP.
•Build the most technologically capable media company with a unified technology
platform spanning streaming, live and linear that improves the user experience and
drives efficiencies.
•Lead in a crowded market by using our scale, assets and global reach to drive
transformation and growth.
•Earn trust every day by communicating directly and transparently, backing up our
words with action, and following through on our commitments to the people we serve
and work alongside.
The work ahead is significant, and so is the opportunity. And we've already begun to act: new
leadership teams are in place, integration work is underway, and we are executing on our plan
to realize at least $6 billion in run-rate synergies within three years.
We expect to reach our medium-term financial outlook of mid-single-digit annualized revenue
growth, mid-20% adjusted EBITDA margins, and more than $10 billion in free cash flow by
2030, while transitioning a meaningful majority of revenue and profit from TV to our
streaming and studios businesses.
We are building this great company with ambition, discipline, and an unwavering belief in the
power of great storytelling combined with world-class technology, and we are doing it
together, with deep respect for the talent and dedication of our people.
4
To leverage our assets and capitalize on our strengths, we are organized into three segments:
Skydance Studios, Skydance Direct-to-Consumer, and Skydance TV.
Skydance Studios
Skydance Studios include our motion picture and television production businesses. Our motion
picture group brings together two of the most iconic studios in Hollywood's history, Warner
Bros. Pictures and Paramount Pictures, as well as the highly acclaimed New Line Cinema, DC
Studios and Skydance Animation. Our television group includes well-established industry
leaders Warner Bros. Television Group, CBS Studios, Paramount Television Studios and
Skydance Sports Entertainment. In addition, Skydance owns a deep library of more than
15,000 films and hundreds of thousands of series hours, which we distribute on our own
platforms and license to third parties.
Our goal is to establish Skydance as the premier global content engine and the home for the
world's leading storytellers. Our strategy is anchored by the strength of our franchises and
quality of the content made by our world class studios, and we expect that demand for
premium content and global franchises will continue to increase. Collectively, our studios have
created approximately forty franchises that have generated at least $1 billion in revenue
across platforms over the past 15 years and continue to resonate with audiences today. We
are now one of the largest producers and suppliers of original live-action TV content to both
our platforms and third-parties in the world.
Paramount Pictures continues to perform well and is expected to double its output in 2026
with 15 releases. In the third quarter, PAW Patrol: The Dino Movie grossed more than $160
million worldwide and drove revenue across multiple lines of business, including consumer
products. David Ayer's original film Heart of the Beast, starring Brad Pitt, has grossed more
than $180 million globally.
In the final two months of the year, we have six film releases across Paramount Pictures and
Warner Bros. Pictures, starting with The Cat in the Hat, which opened last Friday. Ebenezer,
starring Johnny Depp, arrives in theaters this Friday, followed by Focker-in-Law on November
25, with Paramount Pictures distributing internationally. On December 18, audiences return to
Arrakis for Dune: Part Three. The Angry Birds Movie 3 premieres December 23, followed on
Christmas Day by Mr. Irrelevant, starring David Corenswet and Isabel May, which is the first
theatrical release under Skydance Sports' partnership with the NFL.
We expect the Warner Bros. film slate in Q4 to underperform. As we integrate the businesses,
we are applying the playbook we ran at Paramount: testing earlier, tailoring our marketing
and release strategy to the size of each opportunity, enhanced with real-time market data,
and strengthening the slate we greenlight. That approach served us well at Paramount where
our 2026 slate is expected to generate more than $500 million more in lifetime profit than last
year's.
2027 is shaping up well for our motion pictures group, with a lineup that runs from beloved
franchises to fresh stories. At Paramount, we start the year with Children of Blood and Bone in
January and K-Pop: The Debut in February, followed by Sonic the Hedgehog 4 in March,
starring Jim Carrey, Keanu Reeves and others, and A Quiet Place Part III in July. At Warner
Bros., we are building on our biggest franchises, with Godzilla x Kong: Supernova arriving in
March, and Man of Tomorrow and A Minecraft Movie Squared in July. And we have even more
amazing stories coming with the Ocean's Eleven prequel starring Bradley Cooper and Margot
6 Amount is based on each company's historical subscriber definition and for WBD is applicable only to HBO and
HBO Max, and accordingly does not include Discovery+ or other WBD streaming services that may have previously
been included in subscriber counts. See WBD's 2025 Annual Report on Form 10-K for its historical definition and
our Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the third quarter of 2026 for the Paramount+ definition. Such amount does
not account for subscriber overlap.
5
Robbie premiering in June, and a return to Middle-earth with The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt
for Gollum in December.
To leverage our scale and at the same time continue to strengthen quality and talent
relationships, our motion picture group is now integrated under one leadership team, while
each studio has its own dedicated creative teams.
Our Television Studios achieved another strong quarter, with hits across broadcast, streaming
and cable, for our own platforms and for third-party partners. In Q3, 11 of the top 20
streaming programs were owned and produced by our studios. CBS Studios continues to drive
CBS' network leadership, most recently highlighted by the successful debut of NCIS: New
York, the latest addition to television's #1 franchise. The series debuted in October as the
season's #1 new broadcast series, drawing more than 10 million viewers, up 58% from last
year's time-period premiere (NCIS: Origins). This adds to the success of the NCIS franchise
which after 24 years on air is still a top 5 show on streaming and broadcast and has
generated $10 billion of lifetime revenues across platforms. Paramount Television Studios
built on its momentum with three of the top four streaming original series in September:
Reacher, Neagley and Lioness.
The ambition of our Studios business is to create and tell great stories for audiences wherever
they watch: in theaters, on broadcast and cable, and on streaming, across our distribution
platforms and third-party partners. With the creative talent, production scale and global
franchises, we are on track to release over 30 theatrical films and produce more than 180
television and streaming series in 2027.
Skydance Direct-to-Consumer
The Direct-to-Consumer segment encompasses Paramount+, HBO, HBO Max, Discovery+,
and Pluto TV, representing a globally scaled DTC business available in over 130 markets.
Paramount+, HBO, and HBO Max combined reach 203 million aggregate subscribers
worldwide6, and Pluto TV has approximately 75 million monthly active users. We provide
consumers with choice across our premium and standard ad-free, ad-lite, and free ad-
supported product offerings.
Our streaming products are powered by an unparalleled portfolio of leading brands and
franchises, such as Star Trek, Yellowstone, Top Gun: Maverick, Mission: Impossible, Harry
Potter, Game of Thrones, SpongeBob SquarePants, The Pitt, The Big Bang Theory, Superman,
Batman, and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, along with sports and news in a number of
markets around the world.
We see a meaningful opportunity to grow reach and engagement, improve retention, and
increase the revenue and profitability of our streaming services in line with or ahead of the
leading competitors in the industry. Our first step toward bringing together Paramount+ and
HBO Max is to offer them in a single bundle. Starting in early 2027, consumers will be able to
subscribe to both world-class streaming services at an even greater value. We look forward to
sharing more details on the bundle and our streaming roadmap in the coming months.
6
As we work toward a fully unified offering, we will phase in changes based on consumer
feedback so we can continue to drive healthy financial growth through the transition. During
Q3, Paramount+ revenue was up 21% - with engagement up over 20% year-over-year - and
pro forma DTC revenue growth including WBD was 15% year-over-year. We expect to achieve
strong top-line growth in our streaming business in Q4 2026 and in 2027, as well as expand
margins over that same period as we harness the reach of our global platform and verticalized
studio system. Accelerating our integrated direct-to-consumer business is a key priority and
important growth engine, and with Paramount+ and HBO Max together, we have the global
scale to compete and win.
With the unmatched production capabilities of Paramount and Warner Bros., we expect to
provide a powerful combination of breadth and depth of content each year. And with at least
30 theatrical releases annually, a new movie will arrive across our bundled services every two
weeks, on average.
Great storytelling is the foundation of everything we do, and viewers are responding. Lioness
viewership grew 62% in its third season, and MobLand's second installment became the
biggest original series ever for Paramount+ in the UK and Ireland. DC's Lanterns and House of
the Dragon Season 3 rank among HBO Max's strongest launches and returning seasons ever,
averaging 22 million and 42 million global viewers, respectively. We are excited for our
upcoming slate, which we expect will carry momentum through year end, highlighted by the
premiere of the HBO Original Series Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone on Christmas
Day.
Alongside that investment in programming, we are enhancing how audiences discover and
enjoy our content. We've largely completed phase one of the tech convergence, moving Pluto
TV onto the unified Paramount+ platform across all major devices. It is the largest technology
investment in Pluto TV's history, and it is already improving the user experience with better
personalization and on-demand offerings that serve both consumers and advertisers. Running
the services on a unified backend system lowers our cost to operate, speeds up product
development, and gives us shared personalization and monetization capabilities across our
free and subscription offerings.
At the same time, we are expanding Pluto TV's free line-up of iconic series, with more than 25
generation-defining series as of the end of Q3, contributing more than a quarter of all VOD
viewing on the platform. Last week we also added 14 channels from the Warner Bros. library.
Great content brings viewers to Pluto TV and keeps them watching, and with shared
monetization capabilities across our services, a larger, more engaged audience becomes a
stronger business.
The integration of Pluto TV with Paramount+ took about 18 months. Drawing on that
experience, our combined technology team, and the latest in AI tools, we expect to bring
Paramount+ and HBO Max together much faster, aiming to align our backend systems within
a year of closing, enabling us to quickly deliver a unified product.
We will manage the DTC business for long-term profitable growth, with an emphasis on the
value of each customer relationship. We expect to grow our subscriber base with healthy
economics and measure performance by financial results. To that end, beginning with Q4'26
results and in line with other leading DTC players in the industry, we will no longer provide
quarterly subscriber disclosures. We will instead highlight key milestones and KPIs, such as
engagement, along the way.
7
Skydance TV
Skydance TV brings together broadcast and cable networks, underpinned by a leading
portfolio of live news and sports programming, serving audiences in 200+ countries and
territories. Our offering spans CBS and more than 50 cable networks, among them MTV,
Comedy Central, Nickelodeon and BET, and WBD's CNN, TNT, TBS, HGTV, Food Network and
Discovery. TNT, TBS, TLC, Food Network and CNN were five of the top 10 ad-supported cable
networks among adults 25-54 last year. We distribute marquee sports, including the NFL and,
via Eurosport, the Olympics in Europe, and we provide trusted news through CBS News and
CNN. Skydance TV is a highly profitable, cash-generative business, anchored by the enduring
strength of CBS, the crown jewel of U.S. broadcast television.
Our goal is to manage the combined portfolio to optimize long-term profitability and cash flow
as the industry shifts toward streaming. To achieve that, we have established a unified
leadership structure across TV and DTC to ensure we fully align distribution, advertising sales,
and content sales as part of a holistic strategy. This will allow us to follow one globalized
commercial approach to maximize the full potential of our scale across TV and DTC.
CBS is having another strong year and currently leads the new fall season with the #1 show
on television, all five of the top series and seven of the top 10, and 11 shows are up year over
year. Excluding sports, CBS is the #1 broadcast network in primetime and up 18% year-over-
year among total viewers. Live sports add to that strength: the NFL on CBS is posting its
highest viewership through Week 8 on record, averaging 19.6 million viewers, up 5% from
last year's record-setting pace. It has also brought us the season's most-watched game on
any network and the most-watched international NFL game ever.
Our scale in sports is also a competitive advantage. With CBS Sports and TNT Sports under
one roof, we have a premium sports offering that includes NFL, NHL, UFC, MLB, NASCAR,
March Madness, as well as the Olympics in Europe and the Champions League in key markets.
Advertisers can purchase media across the sports portfolio through a single partner spanning
broadcast, cable, and streaming. Sports advertising commitments have risen over 20% year-
over-year for current and upcoming sports seasons leading into 2027.
U.S. pay TV subscriber declines moderated sequentially in the third quarter as genre-based
packages gained traction with the start of the NFL season. Our sports and news networks,
including CBS, drive a majority of the U.S. Skydance TV revenues and EBITDA, giving us a
durable, live-driven foundation. We believe more consumer choice supports the long-term
health of the pay TV ecosystem, and we will continue partnering with distributors to optimize
the experience across linear and streaming.
With the CBS Television Network, premier live sports and some of the most beloved cable
brands in the world, Skydance TV is well positioned to give viewers more of what they love
across broadcast, cable and streaming, and to create lasting value for our shareholders.
8
Transformation Program
We expect to achieve at least $6 billion in run-rate synergies, net of reinvestment across our
cost structure within three years. More than 20 workstreams are already underway, as we
evaluate and rightsize every aspect of our organization and cost structure. But this is more
than cutting costs: it is a tech-forward transformation that will make us more efficient and
agile, create flexibility to reinvest for long-term growth, and establish a healthy margin profile
and free cash flow trajectory.
By combining two global streaming services, two film and TV studio groups, two television
portfolios, and overlapping corporate functions, we can reduce duplicative spend across an
expense base of more than $50 billion. We have identified multi-billion dollar opportunities in
key areas, including non-labor and labor spend where we expect to deliver across these
areas:
•Corporate overhead, real estate & facilities (2026 ~$8 billion): At least $2.2
billion of cost reduction, by consolidating redundant back-office and corporate
functions, reducing management layers, using shared services, implementing a single
ERP, scaling AI workflows, and shifting to lower-cost support functions. In addition, we
are rationalizing our office footprint (while keeping our production lots).
•Marketing (2026 ~$5 billion): At least $1.0 billion in savings by streamlining and
optimizing our enterprise-wide spend, as well as strategic utilization of our expanded
global portfolio to promote our key projects and initiatives. This includes unifying media
planning and buying across business units to eliminate audience overlap, coordinate
cross-BU campaigns, and maximize media efficiency at scale.
•Technology (2026 ~$4 billion): At least $1.4 billion reduction to our annual spend
by unifying our enterprise tech stack, streaming ecosystem, and broadcast architecture,
merging parallel technology functions, leveraging AI coding tools, and integrating
platforms and systems.
•Procurement and vendor management (2026 ~$9 billion): At least $1.4 billion in
savings by optimizing third-party spend across vendors spanning hundreds of services.
Our combined purchasing levels will give us economies of scale by consolidating
purchasing decisions into one centralized group.
We also see opportunity in content, which is both an expense for us but also an investment in
building valuable, long-term assets for the company. We start from an industry-leading base
of more than $30 billion in annual content spend and a deep library built over a combined
200-plus years of storytelling, and we will keep investing in the content engine that drives our
growth. With the reach of our combined platforms across streaming, broadcast and cable,
each title can work harder for us, and as one company we can make smarter choices about
how we distribute and monetize our slate.
9
We are confident in achieving these savings, drawing on our playbook from Paramount. That
program is on track to achieve over $2.7 billion in run-rate efficiencies by the end of 2026.
We've raised its target to more than $3 billion, over 50% above our initial 2024 goal, as we
identified additional broad-based opportunities across the business. Year-to-date, we've
realized over $1 billion in run-rate efficiencies, and we expect to realize the remainder in
2027, which is incremental to our Skydance program.
It is early, but we have strong confidence in achieving at least $6 billion in run-rate synergies
within three years for Skydance, with 30% realized in year one and 70% through year two.
We'll share milestones as we go and measure success by our ability to operate more
efficiently and grow margins.
7 We present periods before ("predecessor") and after ("successor") the close of the Skydance Transactions (see
Financial Statement Presentation). We discuss revenue for Q3 2025 on a pro forma basis, reflecting the
combination of the predecessor and successor periods and the inclusion of Skydance Media revenues during the
predecessor period. In addition, because our current GAAP segment structure was not in effect during the
predecessor period, the 2025 predecessor revenues by segment shown in this letter constitute a non-GAAP
presentation. See Supplemental Disclosures Regarding Non-GAAP Financial Measures for reconciliations to the
historical GAAP segment presentation and pro forma revenues for Q3 2025.
10
Q3 Results and Outlook
Our Q3 financial highlights below are for Paramount Skydance and exclude WBD, as the
acquisition closed after the end of Q3. Starting in Q4, we will be reporting Skydance results on
a consolidated basis. Forward looking commentary below reflects our current expectations for
Skydance, the combined company.
A summary and discussion of Paramount Skydance's Q3 results are below7.
In millions, except
per share amounts
Predecessor
Successor
7/1/25 -
8/7/25 -
8/6/25
9/30/25
Q4'25
Q1'26
Q2'26
Q3'26
Total Revenue
$2,581
$4,121
$8,148
$7,347
$6,913
$7,025
Y/Y Growth (%)
2%
2%
1%
5%
Operating Income (Loss)
$80
$244
$(339)
$616
$475
$368
Operating Margin (%)
3.1%
5.9%
(4.2)%
8.4%
6.9%
5.2%
Net Earnings (Loss)
$(244)
$(13)
$(573)
$168
$41
$73
Diluted EPS (1)
$(.36)
$(.01)
$(.52)
$.15
$.04
$.06
Adjusted EBITDA (2)
$313
$684
$674
$1,161
$1,099
$1,000
Y/Y Growth (%)
42%
59%
27%
0.3%
Adj. EBITDA Margin (%)
12.1%
16.6%
8.3%
15.8%
15.9%
14.2%
Net Cash (Used For) Provided
by Operating Activities
$(175)
$268
$217
$185
$319
$123
Free Cash Flow (2)
$(207)
$222
$101
$96
$258
$31
Shares Outstanding (3)
675
1,098
1,104
1,118
1,120
1,125
Paramount+ Revenue
$709
$1,060
$1,837
$1,974
$2,061
$2,134
Y/Y Growth (%)
17%
17%
16%
21%
Paramount+ Subscribers
77.9
78.9
79.6
81.6
82.2
Y/Y Growth (%)
4%
2%
6%
6%
Note: (1) Diluted EPS from continuing operations attributable to predecessor or successor;
(2) See Supplemental Disclosures Regarding Non-GAAP Financial Measures; (3) Weighted
average number of diluted shares outstanding
11
Paramount Skydance Q3'26
In Q3, total revenue of $7.0 billion increased 5% versus revenue of $6.7 billion in Q3'25 for
Paramount Skydance, led by growth in Studios and DTC revenues, partially offset by a decline
in TV Media. Operating income was $368 million (5.2% margin) including $187 million of
restructuring and transaction-related costs. Adjusted EBITDA was $1.0 billion, a 14.2%
margin, with profitability stable year-over-year.
Direct-to-Consumer
•DTC revenue growth improved to 11% year-over-year to $2.5 billion, led by
accelerating Paramount+ revenue growth of 21% year-over-year, reflecting subscriber
growth of approximately 6% and ARPU growth of approximately 14% as our
monetization improved in the quarter driven by previous price adjustments and
accelerating advertising growth. As previously noted, we completed our integration of
BET+ into Paramount+ in Q2 and realized a full quarter of impact in Q3, which along
with Showtime declines, amounted to a six-percentage-point headwind to total DTC
growth in the quarter.
•DTC adj. EBITDA was $225 million (9.0% margin), as we recognized higher costs from
planned investment in our programming schedule in the quarter, including the UFC and
ongoing investment in Originals.
Studios
•Studios revenue increased 23% year-over-year to $1.5 billion, reflecting a strong
quarter for secondary market licensing and content produced for third parties.
•Studios adj. EBITDA was $129 million (8.6% margin), reflecting the increase in
licensing revenues.
TV Media
•TV Media revenue declined 7% year-over-year to $3.0 billion. Advertising revenue was
down 8% year-over-year, including an approximate three-percentage-point headwind
from the absence of Telefe and Chilevisión, which were sold in October 2025 and
January 2026, respectively, offset by higher political advertising revenues. Affiliate
revenue decreased 5% year-over-year, consistent with continued pay TV subscriber
erosion while rates remain resilient.
•TV Media adj. EBITDA was $1 billion, a 34.0% margin, benefiting from cost savings
initiatives.
12
Skydance Outlook
We will provide our full-year outlook for 2027 during our Q4 2026 earnings when we will share
our full year financial results.
Going forward, we will provide guidance on an annual basis, as we prioritize long-term value
creation, which we believe will be more consistent with our strategic approach. We will
continue to provide quarterly updates, including certain forward-looking commentary where
applicable, which will give investors visibility into our near-term progress of the business.
Based on year-to-date results, Paramount Skydance as a standalone would remain on track
for our prior 2026 guidance, including achieving the high end of our prior profitability range at
$3.9 billion.
In Q4, we expect to see continued strong growth in DTC revenue, and consistent TV revenue
trends to prior quarters, adjusting for seasonality around politics and sports. And while we are
incredibly excited about the shape of the combined Studio business and our Paramount
theatrical slate continues to perform, the near-term performance of the Warner Bros. film
slate in Q4, including films already released quarter-to-date, has underperformed. Based on
our current forecasts for the rest of the year for Studios, we expect slower revenue growth
and a profit impact of up to $200 million vs. prior expectations for Q4.
Looking ahead to 2027, we expect continued strong growth in DTC revenue, higher Studios
revenue, and an increase in pro forma total company adj. EBITDA year-over-year based on
underlying growth and the ramp of our $6 billion-plus synergies program. 2027 is the first
step in working towards achieving our medium-term financial goals.
Capital Structure & Capital Allocation
Paramount Skydance ended the quarter with $1.4 billion in cash and cash equivalents and
$15.0 billion in gross debt, prior to the acquisition. Free cash flow was $31 million, inclusive of
$174 million of restructuring, transaction-related, and transformation costs. On October 6, we
completed the Warner Bros. Discovery acquisition funded with $47 billion of new equity and
$57 billion of new secured debt. Gross debt following closing and related debt activity was $87
billion, with cash of approximately $10 billion, part of which is earmarked for payment of
cash-converted equity to WBD employees who joined the company and also to pay down
WBD's securitization program.
We are restructuring our cost base so we can invest for growth while achieving at least $6
billion of run-rate synergies within three years and strengthening our balance sheet. Growing
our business and paying down debt are our top priorities, and we strongly believe we can
achieve both simultaneously. We expect to reduce net leverage to 3.0x by the end of 2029,
reaching investment-grade credit metrics within approximately three years of closing. To get
there, we expect to ramp our annual free cash flow to more than $10 billion in 2030. One-
time cash costs to achieve the synergies are expected to be roughly $1.5 to $2 billion in 2027
and roughly $4 billion throughout our transformation, 60% to 70% of which will impact 2027
and 2028, and have been contemplated in our financial and leverage outlook.
Until we reach our leverage target, we will use excess cash, beyond our reinvestment into the
business and our current dividend, to repay debt.
13
Closing
We came together to build something bigger, bolder and better, with the stories, the
technology and the scale to win. We'll move quickly over the coming months and share more
with investors, partners and consumers at an Investor Day in the first half of 2027. There is
still a lot to work through, but our vision is clear, and we are steadfast in our operational goals
and financial commitments. We are confident in our plan, excited for what's ahead and just
getting started.
Sincerely,
David Ellison
Ynon Kreiz
Chairman & CEO
Co-CEO
Skydance
Skydance
14
Skydance Corporation published this content on November 09, 2026, and is solely responsible for the information contained herein. Distributed via EDGAR on November 09, 2026 at 21:05 UTC. If you believe the information included in the content is inaccurate or outdated and requires editing or removal, please contact us at [email protected]