Tough times have forced the hand of Warner Bros. Discovery’s (NASDAQ:WBD) streaming service, Max, as it temporarily cut its ad-supported subscription fee.
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Indeed, the platform cut its monthly fee from $9.99 to $2.99 for the first six months for new and returning subscribers. The change will take effect today and is expected to run for a week.
The price cut comes as subscriber numbers continue to decline. Indeed, in its last earnings report, WBD disclosed that the number of subscribers dropped by over 700,000 to 95.1 million compared to the previous quarter. In addition, since the start of 2023, 1 million subscribers have left the platform.
Surprisingly, competitors like streaming giants Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX) and Walt Disney’s (NYSE:DIS) Disney+ have seen a surge in subscriber numbers during the same period. Earlier this month, Netflix announced that it had 15 million global monthly active users for its ad-supported tier while also topping consensus estimates for subscribers by over 2 million.
Furthermore, Disney announced it added nearly 7 million core subscribers in its fourth fiscal quarter. In addition, the company also said domestic Disney+ average monthly revenue per paid subscriber jumped from $7.31 to $7.50 due to higher advertising revenue.
Meanwhile, Warner Bros shares appear unaffected by the recent development as they remain relatively unchanged in Monday’s trading session.
What is the Forecast for WBD Stock?
Turning to Wall Street, analysts have a Moderate Buy consensus rating on WBD stock based on five Buys and three Holds assigned in the past three months, as indicated by the graphic below. After a 12.4% increase in its share price on a year-to-date basis, the average Warner Bros price target of $16.29 per share implies 51.18% upside potential.
