Give Paramount (NASDAQ:PARA) some credit. It’s made a lot of headway in the streaming market, thanks to its sheer flood of “Star Trek” titles. And now, shares are up almost 4% in Wednesday afternoon’s trading, not for anything it’s showing or about to show, but rather for what’s going on behind the scenes.
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The latest reports—though these are mostly speculation—suggest that Paramount could be up for grabs by an activist investor. The word from Activist Insight suggests that Paramount—who owns both the Paramount movie studio and the CBS television network—might be in play as it faces down bigger streaming operators like Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX) and Disney (NYSE:DIS). Given that Warren Buffett currently holds the second-largest bloc of shares in Paramount and that Shari Redstone’s National Amusements holds the controlling stake, there could be quite a war brewing.
But it’s not just investor action that’s moving Paramount today. Recently, it announced plans to lay off 25% of its total workforce. Moreover, Paramount is also in line to land the full slate of “Indiana Jones” titles alongside Disney thanks to a shared rights deal. With another Indiana Jones title in the works, having the catalog of Indy titles on hand could draw viewers. Paramount renewed several series recently—including “Criminal Minds” and “Seal Team”—but shut down the “Workaholics” movie ahead of production and will close “Star Trek: Discovery” after season five.
Regardless of who may or may not buy Paramount, one group is clearly in favor of selling: analysts. Wall Street consensus calls Paramount stock a Moderate Sell with 10 Sell ratings, three Holds, and five Buys. However, Paramount stock’s average price target of $19.53 gives it 25.96% upside potential for investors.
