Warner Bros Discovery CEO David Zaslav anticipates a friendlier environment for deal-making under the incoming Trump administration, opening the door to industry consolidation, he said on Thursday.

"Your company is trading like a company that's declining in earnings," said Ben Swinburne, a media-industry analyst with Morgan Stanley during a call between Warner Bros. Discover

Released last month in theaters, the sequel to 2019's Joker made $204.7 million globally, against a reported $200 million budget (though director Todd Phillips has called the latter budget claim "absurd ").

Warner Bros. Discovery under the guiding hand of CEO David Zaslav has made a series of puzzling decisions that seem antithetical to meeting fan demands. Key among its highlight reel of letdowns include unceremoniously canceling daring animated show Scavengers Reign and scrapping the completed Batgirl film for tax write-offs.

"Inconsistency" was the word of the day today during the Warner Bros. Discovery earnings. CEO David Zaslav acknowledged that the company's film business has been hit-or-miss lately, with Joker: Folie à Deux in particular being "disappointing".