Warner Bros. Discovery $WBD is one of the best-performing stocks of the first quarter of 2023.
As one of the largest media companies in the world, it is best known for its movie business and also its streaming platform HBO Max, which is soon going to be renamed Max. But Warner Bros. Discovery also owns a game publishing business, with higher margins compared to competitors such as Activision Blizzard $ATVI . The reason is intellectual property.
WBD owns the rights to the Harry Potter franchise and this year, the Hogwarts Legacy game was released with record sales. Retail sales were over $850 million in just two weeks, bigger than any of the Harry Potter movies. Retail sales do not mean revenues for WBD but since they own the IP, they can make games with better margins. Hogwarts Legacy has only recently come out on PS4 and will come out on Nintendo Switch in June. Another game expected to come out this year is Mortal Kombat 12. 2023 is going to be a great year for Warner Bros. Discovery with the Barbie movie coming out and the Harry Potter series under development.
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