In a move that will likely have you cleaning coffee off your monitor, the hunt to buy entertainment giant Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) just got a little more complicated. While there was a straight-up offer made by Paramount Skydance (PSKY), and some interest expressed from Netflix (NFLX), now there is one more potential buyer in the hunt: entertainment giant Comcast (CMCSA). The move gave Comcast a little extra boost, as shares were up nearly 1.5% in Tuesday morning’s trading.
Elevate Your Investing Strategy:
- Take advantage of TipRanks Premium at 50% off! Unlock powerful investing tools, advanced data, and expert analyst insights to help you invest with confidence.
Reports note that Comcast is “considering its options” to pick up Warner, and incorporate the substantial HBO Max library into Peacock. Naturally, this put Paramount Skydance on edge as it just made an attempt to buy with an offer that was generally considered “lowball.” It also helps underscore the growing call for consolidation in the streaming space, as there are ever-growing streaming properties and an increasingly frustrated consumer getting tired of paying for a month of access to watch one show.
Comcast, however, will likely run into similar problems with regulators that Paramount would. While Comcast is planning to spin off MSNBC—soon to be MS Now—into Versant, Comcast will still own NBC. And one company owning two major news networks—Warner has CNN, after all—might be a bit of a sticking point.
Price Target Uptick
Meanwhile, word from Scotiabank analyst Maher Yaghi—who has a four-star rating on TipRanks—suggests that Comcast is looking a little better than it did previously. Yaghi left the rating in place, a Sector Perform, but hiked the price target from its original $45 per share to $45.50.
Scotiabank is looking for upcoming results to be mostly in line with previous projections, with its core growth businesses—broadband, business services, parks, streaming, studios and wireless—to make up 70% of revenue over the next several years. Comcast is set to put its efforts into building total revenue growth, and will therefore focus on core business to get there.
Is Comcast Stock a Good Buy Right Now?
Turning to Wall Street, analysts have a Moderate Buy consensus rating on CMCSA stock based on nine Buys, nine Holds and one Sell assigned in the past three months, as indicated by the graphic below. After a 30.16% loss in its share price over the past year, the average CMCSA price target of $40.64 per share implies 35.76% upside potential.
