In its first earnings report since combining with Hulu + Live TV, Fubo is flexing its new scale with 6.2 million North American subscribers but is obscuring individual performance by combining the numbers and announcing a new reseller deal with ESPN.
Bigger, but smaller: The new combined entity reported over $1.5 billion in revenue, but the unified subscriber count hides a key detail. The 6.2 million North American subscribers is actually about 100,000 fewer than Fubo and Hulu + Live TV had separately before the merger, an analysis from The Desk points out.
Playing for the same team: To counter the messy math, Fubo is leaning into its new Disney relationship with a strategic partnership to sell its Fubo Sports service directly through ESPN's digital platforms. The service is Fubo's take on a "skinny bundle," designed for sports fans who don't want a full cable package.
A silver lining: The company did manage to slash its net loss to around $19 million from nearly $39 million a year prior. Fubo also announced a reverse stock split, a classic Wall Street move to boost a flagging share price.
Fubo has achieved massive scale overnight, but now faces the challenge of proving it can actually grow its newly combined user base and turn its massive revenue into sustainable profit. This merger follows a period of other major shifts for Fubo, including a contentious dispute that saw it drop NBCUniversal channels late last year.
