WWE Announces 2015 Third-Quarter Earnings: Latest Details, Comments

Despite struggling ratings and a hit-and-miss television product, WWE announced strong financial gains in its third-quarter earnings report Thursday.

According to an official WWE press release, the company improved in several key areas over the past year and past quarter.

WWE reported a net income of $10.4 million for the third quarter of 2015 after operating at a net loss of $5.9 million in the third quarter of 2014. Also, WWE's operating income before depreciation and amortization increased by nearly $3 million to $23.4 million compared to this time last year.

The WWE Network has been a major key to WWE's success as of late, and it continued to grow in the third quarter, as total subscribers increased by 79 percent to 1.3 million from 2014's third quarter, and paid subscribers have gone up by 7 percent to 1.2 million since the second quarter of 2015.

According to the press release, WWE Chairman and CEO Vince McMahon expects the company to continue making strides in all areas with a special emphasis on the WWE Network:

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During the quarter, we made significant progress on the growth of our global subscription service, WWE Network. We also continued to strengthen our talent base, achieved significant international growth and increased engagement across our digital and social media platforms. Over the next year, we expect to leverage our brand and content initiatives to further enhance engagement, promote network subscription, and maximize our long-term earnings growth.

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WWE has plans in place to continue adding content to WWE Network in an effort to acquire and retain new subscribers. Also, per the press release, the company will bring WWE Network to India on Nov. 2, as well as both Germany and Japan in 2016, which will open the door for millions of potential subscribers.

There is often doom and gloom associated with WWE, especially after Raw posted a 2.21 rating Oct. 19, which was the lowest non-holiday rating since the show went to three hours in 2012, per WrestlingInc.com.

That hasn't stopped WWE from continuing to be a financially viable company, and it appears as though the revolutionary WWE Network is paying major dividends in that regard.

If WWE can supplement that with a more consistently entertaining on-screen product—especially with WrestleMania season right around the corner—it has a great opportunity to continue the growth of WWE Network and become even more profitable in the process.

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