Warner Music Group has issued unusually early "preliminary" figures for its calendar Q2, a move widely seen as reassurance to investors just days after the shock departure of CFO and COO Armin Zerza, which the company attributed to "personal reasons". The timing signals that Zerza's exit was not linked to weak financial performance, since the disclosed numbers show solid growth across the business. WMG has also moved its full earnings release forward to Wednesday 5 August, a day earlier than originally scheduled.

The preliminary results show overall revenues up 9% year-on-year at constant currency to around $1.86 billion for the quarter ended 30 June 2026. Recorded Music revenues rose 9% to about $1.49 billion, with streaming revenue up 10% to just over $1 billion, driven by 11% subscription growth and 8% ad-supported growth. Warner Chappell Music publishing revenue climbed 11% to roughly $377 million, while operating income jumped 80% to approximately $305 million. Following Zerza's exit, Lou Dickler has become acting CFO and Tom Corson has been promoted to COO of WMG.