ViacomCBS (VIAC, $16.42) beats Q1 earnings estimate

ViacomCBS  beat the Street's first-quarter earnings expectations, in its its first report for a full quarter of the Viacom and CBS merger.

The media behemoth’s  adjusted earnings came in at $1.13 a share for the quarter, which surpassed analysts’ estimate of  95 cents a share.

Revenue fell -6% year-over-year to $6.67 billion, but exceeded Wall Street's expectation of $6.57 billion.

Sales from the advertising segment fell -19% year over year.  The NCAA cancelled its championship basketball tournament this year because of the coronavirus pandemic.

However, domestic streaming and digital video revenue, including streaming subscription and digital video advertising revenue, surged +51% from the prior year quarter to $471 million.

Also, film revenue grew +11%, on the back of  licensing and home entertainment growth.

ViacomCBS said it has access to $3.5 billion revolving credit facility and other liquidity sources.