Warner Music earnings

Photo Credit: Warner Music Group

Warner Music Group (WMG) has reported a double-digit revenue increase – and a net income jump stemming in part from exchange-rate fluctuations – for Q3 2025. But on a full fiscal-year basis, the major turned in comparatively modest revenue growth and a net income slip.

WMG posted its financials for July, August, and September 2025 (the fiscal fourth quarter) today, pointing to $1.87 billion in total revenue (up 14.6% YoY). Within the sum – which execs touted as “an all-time high” and as reflecting the company’s “highest year-over-year growth in nearly two years” – recorded music kicked in $1.53 billion (also up 14.6% YoY).

This quarterly growth rate outshined its 4.4% full-year counterpart and would have been closer to 16% if not for another hit from BMG’s ADA split, per Warner Music.

(Speaking of ADA, higher-ups during the earnings call stressed that they “feel confident” about boosting distribution revenue in the new year and beyond.)

Furthermore, recorded music’s strong Q3 2025 performance didn’t result from huge gains in streaming (up 7.5% YoY to $931 million) or physical (down 3% YoY to $130 million).

The BMG split affected both categories, with streaming consisting of $700 million from subscriptions (up 8.5% YoY) and the remaining $231 million from ad-supported listening (up 4.5% YoY). Similarly, licensing revenue fell slightly from 2024’s third quarter to $126 million.

But artist services and expanded rights put up a 68% YoY improvement for Warner Music, which attributed recorded revenue of $327 million to the category for the three-month stretch.

The increase, which accounted for a substantial portion of the fiscal-year hike, was “primarily due to higher merchandising revenue from” the company’s Oasis deal as well as “higher concert promotion revenue.”

All told, Warner Music’s Q3 2025 digital revenue came in at $951 million (up 8% YoY), compared to a 2.1% full-fiscal uptick to $3.59 billion. “Major sellers” on the quarter included Alex Warren, Ed Sheeran, Twenty One Pilots, Teddy Swims, and Sombr.

On the publishing side, Warner Chappell generated $337 million (up 14.2% YoY) during the third quarter, when performance (up 42% YoY to $63 million), streaming (up 9% YoY to $199 million), and sync (up 20% YoY to $55 million) expanded.

However, as initially mentioned, the full-year showing (including profitability) lagged well behind the quarterly figures from a percentage-growth perspective. The 12-month window’s net income slipped 23% YoY to $370 million, against $109 million in Q3 net income (up from $48 million).

Additionally, despite a spike across July, August, and September, 12-month U.S. recorded music revenue decreased about 1% YoY to $2.18 billion, the report indicates. These points may have contributed to Warner Music’s post-earnings share-price dip. At the time of this writing, the stock (NASDAQ: WMG) was down 2.2% from opening at $29.84 per share.

Looking ahead to the next 12 months, CEO Robert Kyncl also discussed his AI strategy at length. Plus, both he and CFO Armin Zerza emphasized plans to soon disclose several acquisitions spearheaded under WMG’s $1.2 billion Bain Capital JV.