Paramount Skydance’s Q1 2026 reveals a massive profitability swing driven by deliberate subscriber culling and a $2.15 billion debt gamble to secure the Warner Bros. Discovery merger.

In ~10 minutes:

• Why PSKY intentionally deleted 1.9M international subscribers

• Taking on $2.15B in debt to pay Netflix's WBD breakup fee

• How AI code-assist software halved engineering approval times

• The demographic pipeline funneling UFC fans to South Park

• Looming $800M transformation costs gutting Q2 cash flows

While headline streaming volume looks weak, management’s pivot from vanity metrics to actual unit economics drove a 14% ARPU jump for Paramount+ 📺. However, the real operational stress test lies just ahead as the company balances a perilous Oracle backend integration, returning content costs in H2, and a swelling $15.4B debt load.

Paramount Skydance Corporation (PSKY) | Q1 FY2026

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