Warner Bros. Discovery Stock Rises After a Surprise Profit. The Box Office Is Back.

Emma Myers, Sebastian Hansen, Jennifer Coolidge and Jack Black at the World Premiere of “A Minecraft Movie.” (Gareth Cattermole/Getty Images for Warner Bros. Pictures)

Warner Bros. Discovery reported a surprise profit on Thursday, as the company’s studios division smashed investors’ expectations after a stellar quarter at the box office.

Shares were up 1.6% to $13.01 ahead of the opening bell. Futures tracking the S&P 500 were 0.7% higher.

Warner Bros. reported an adjusted profit of 63 cents a share, as revenue climbed 1% from a year ago to $9.81 billion. Analysts were expecting a loss of 12 cents a share on revenue of $9.77 billion, according to FactSet.

Studios revenue jumped 55% from a year ago to $3.80 billion, way above the $3.09 billion figure analysts were forecasting, which Warner Bros. said was due to the success of blockbusters including videogame adaptation A Minecraft Movie and vampire thriller Sinners. Streaming revenue was up 9% from a year ago to $2.79 billion, and the division added 3.4 million subscribers over the quarter.

That helped to offset a 9% drop in revenue for the company’s legacy TV networks business, which pulled in less money due to a drop in subscribers and a 10% slump in advertising sales.

Write to George Glover at george.glover@dowjones.com