Paramount Global (PARA) reported quarterly results before the bell on Thursday that missed expectations on both the top and bottom lines as the company continues to battle advertising headwinds and greater losses within its streaming division.

The company reported a direct-to-consumer loss of $511 million in the first quarter compared with a loss of $456 million in the prior year period.

"Looking ahead, we are focused on continuing to drive market-leading streaming growth while navigating a dynamic macroeconomic environment," Paramount CEO Bob Bakish said in the earnings release, praising Paramount+ and Pluto TV for reaching milestones of 60 million subscribers and 80 million MAUs, respectively. The company also updated its dividend policy, cutting its quarterly cash dividend to $0.05 per share from $0.24 a share.

"The updated dividend policy we have announced today will further enhance our ability to deliver long-term value for our shareholders as we move toward streaming profitability," Bakish said, adding on the earnings call the company is committed to enacting more cost-saving measures like divesting non-core assets.

The company said it has restarted the sale process for Simon & Schuster after the publishing giant's sale to Penguin Random House collapsed late last year.

Paramount shares saw losses accelerate into the close as investors digested the report. The stock finished Thursday's trading day down roughly 28%.

Here are Paramount's first-quarter results compared to Wall Street's consensus estimates, as compiled by Bloomberg:

• Revenue: $7.27 billion versus $7.43 billion expected

• Adj. earnings per share (EPS): $0.09 versus $0.14 expected

• Paramount+ subscriber net additions: 4.1 million versus 3 million expected

• Global Pluto monthly active users (MAUs): 80 million versus 82 million expected

Paramount recently announced it would merge its Paramount+ and Showtime streaming services into one product to take on larger competitors. It also unveiled a restructuring plan that combines Showtime with MTV Entertainment Studios. The company is eyeing greater integration between its cable television and streaming offerings amid escalating cord-cutting trends.

Paramount continued to lean on its franchises to drive streaming service subscriptions, with spinoffs for popular series like "Yellowstone," "Dexter" and "Billions" currently in the works amid the Showtime/Paramount+ rebrand.

As a result of the merger of the two streaming services, the company previously said it'd be taking a content impairment charge between $1.3 billion to $1.5 billion in the first quarter, but said it expects $700 million in future annual expense savings.