Wedbush downgrades National CineMedia to Neutral, lowers price target to 37c

As previously reported, Wedbush downgraded National CineMedia to Neutral from Outperform with a price target of 37c, down from 50c. As National CineMedia restructures its operations, it continues to see a very difficult advertising environment, almost fully obscuring the recovering box office upside, the firm says. Furthermore, Wedbush notes that the company now has to contend with jitters around next year’s upfront bookings given the overhang of the Hollywood labor strikes and uncertainty about next year’s release slate. As such, next year could be another repeat of this year, albeit with an improved scatter market, the firm adds.