What Happened?

Shares of global music entertainment company Warner Music Group (NASDAQ: WMG) jumped 5.8% in the morning session after the company reported fourth-quarter 2025 earnings that showed strong revenue and profit growth, which overshadowed a miss on earnings per share. Investors focused on the positive aspects of the report, even though earnings of $0.33 per share did not meet forecasts. The company posted revenue of $1.84 billion, which beat analyst expectations and represented a 10.4% increase from the previous year. Furthermore, Warner Music showed improved profitability. A key measure, adjusted EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization), came in at $463 million, beating analyst estimates, while its operating margin expanded to 15.7% from 12.8% in the same quarter last year.

Is now the time to buy Warner Music Group? Access our full analysis report here, it’s free.

What Is The Market Telling Us

Warner Music Group’s shares are not very volatile and have only had 4 moves greater than 5% over the last year. In that context, today’s move indicates the market considers this news meaningful, although it might not be something that would fundamentally change its perception of the business.

The biggest move we wrote about over the last year was 9 months ago when the stock dropped 8.2% on the news that the company reported weak first quarter 2025 results which saw a significant EPS miss and underperformance in Recorded Music revenue. Revenue declined modestly, with a 1.2% drop in Recorded Music sales, led by soft ad-supported streaming and weaker results in artist services and expanded rights, despite gains in licensing and physical formats. Overall, this was a weaker quarter.

Warner Music Group is down 2% since the beginning of the year, and at $29.82 per share, it is trading 17.9% below its 52-week high of $36.30 from February 2025. Investors who bought $1,000 worth of Warner Music Group’s shares 5 years ago would now be looking at an investment worth $774.95.

Do you want to know what moves the business you care about? Add them to your StockStory watchlist and every time a stock significantly moves, we provide you with a timely explanation straight to your inbox. It’s free and will only take you a second.