Packed Slate Cannot Stop Warner Bros Discovery Stock (NASDAQ:WBD) Plummet
The news for entertainment giant Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) really should have been better than it was. At least, better than investors reacted to it. Warner has been ramping up its sports programming with new deals, and the reports out of CinemaCon suggest a whole lot of new movies afoot. But despite all this, Warner got thoroughly shellacked, and investors panicked, sending shares plunging over 11% in Friday afternoon's trading.
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Warner is getting behind its sports content in a grand fashion these days. First, it inked a new deal with Amazon (AMZN) Web Services, which will see its debut with the 2025 UCI Mountain Bike World Series. The deal brings out a new system called Cycling Central Intelligence, which offers a wide array of new informational tools for cycling commentators. It will, noted the vice president of cycling events at WBD Sports, Chris Ball, effectively set '…new standards for how mountain bike events are brought to life…'
For those less concerned about cycling, though, Grant Hill is going to be stepping into an expanded role with the organization. While Hill is currently a lead game analyst—and he will continue to be so—he will also be part of coverage for Big 12 and Big East games as well. Warner will be bringing those games out starting this year, and Grant Hill will be along for that particular ride.
Coming Soon, a Better Shot
We know that Warner's film slate has not exactly been a ball of fire lately. So much so that the studio is reconsidering just who runs the film sector anyway. But when Warner hit CinemaCon, they had quite a bit to offer that was coming out fairly soon. In fact, Warner put particular focus on properties that were set to hit in the next few weeks.
Warner showed off Sinners, coming in a couple weeks, followed by Final Destination: Bloodlines, in May. F1 was set for June, and Warner kept the one-big-movie-a-month train going with Superman this July. Zach Cregger's horror epic Weapons will hit in August, but September will apparently be quiet as Mortal Kombat II hits in October. Warner is likely trying to gin up short-term interest, by focusing on the projects set to have the most impact immediately. That left a lot of big announcements—Jason Momoa as Lobo, or the villain for The Batman Part II— quiet for now.
Is WBD Stock a Good Buy?
Turning to Wall Street, analysts have a Moderate Buy consensus rating on WBD stock based on 10 Buys and six Holds assigned in the past three months, as indicated by the graphic below. After a 2.04% loss in its share price over the past year, the average WBD price target of $13.33 per share implies 62.96% upside potential.
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