A day after Rupert Murdoch withdrew his $80 billion offer to buy Time Warner, Jeff Bewkes’ company reported strong second quarter earnings, including a 3 percent raise in revenue to $6.8 billion and a 17 percent jump in adjusted operating income to $1.6 billion.
Time Warner earned 98 cents per share, far surpassing analysts’ estimates of 84 cents.
Also read: 21st Century Fox Withdraws Proposal to Acquire Time Warner
It was a busy quarter for the company, as it spun off its publishing arm, Time Inc., into a separate publicly owned unit, and faced down the massive offer from 21st Century Fox.
Much of Time Warner’s profitability came thanks to a big showing by HBO, which increased revenue to $1.417 billion (from $1.2 billion in the same quarter in 2013) and adjusted operating income to $552 million (from $459 million).
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Turner revenues jumped to $2.75 billion from $2.67 billion in last year’s third quarter, with income up to $940 million from $815 million.
Warner Bros. had a softer quarter, with revenue down from $2.94 billion to $2.87 billion, though adjusted income rose from $181 million to $234 million thanks to solid home video sales.
Time Warner also announced a $5 billion stock buyback plan.