Not much seemed to happen on the acquisition front for entertainment giant Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD). Instead, though, it made a move to branch out on its offerings, setting up a new partnership with Korean entertainment company CJ ENM to establish a new operation. Oddly, investors seemed displeased, and Warner shares slipped modestly in the closing minutes of Thursday’s trading.
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The combination of Warner and CJ ENM will set up a “multi-year partnership” between the pair that will give HBO Max subscribers access to “…a pipeline of Korean drama and entertainment.” As part of the deal, HBO Max will get its own connection to Tving—CJ ENM’s streaming platform—in 17 different markets. There will even be a Tving-branded hub added to HBO Max in 2026’s opening weeks that includes quite a bit of current and new Korean drama.
Content starts hitting the platform November 6, reports note, with the release of Dear X. Warner CEO David Zaslav noted, “We are honored to partner with CJ ENM, a true leader in creating universally popular stories that resonate worldwide. This collaboration marks a cornerstone of our commitment to great locally relevant stories in key markets around the world.”
Speaking of HBO Max….
This move was a big one for HBO Max, but it turns out that it was only part of a larger move and, ultimately, a full-on milestone. It turns out that HBO Max recently launched in 15 new markets ranging from Bangladesh to Cambodia to even Ukraine, and that push was enough to get HBO Max up over 100 markets worldwide.
Naturally, programming varies by market. But some fairly constant features include the Harry Potter universe, the DC universe, and Discovery Channel content. Several movie premieres are coming up, along with the arrival of the series It: Welcome to Derry, which will start up October 26. Still, with 100 markets now under its belt, HBO Max will go a long way toward securing its status as a top streaming platform. Not to mention make itself that much more desirable to all those potential buyers out there.
Is WBD Stock a Good Buy?
Turning to Wall Street, analysts have a Moderate Buy consensus rating on WBD stock based on six Buys and 11 Holds assigned in the past three months, as indicated by the graphic below. After a 137.15% rally in its share price over the past year, the average WBD price target of $18.30 per share implies 0.11% upside potential.
