Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBD) Receives $27.69 Average PT from Brokerages

Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBD) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the twenty-three research firms that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $27.6912.

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on WBD shares. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Warner Bros. Discovery from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 25th. Huber Research upgraded shares of Warner Bros. Discovery from an “underweight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, June 1st. Seaport Research Partners cut Warner Bros. Discovery from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, July 27th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Warner Bros. Discovery from a “sell (d-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 18th. Finally, Freedom Capital raised Warner Bros. Discovery from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, August 10th.

Warner Bros. Discovery Price Performance

WBD opened at $28.25 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $70.93 billion, a PE ratio of -22.24 and a beta of 1.57. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $27.09 and a 200-day moving average price of $27.26. Warner Bros. Discovery has a 1 year low of $11.77 and a 1 year high of $30.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 0.78 and a quick ratio of 0.78.

Warner Bros. Discovery (NASDAQ:WBD) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 6th. The company reported $0.06 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.14) by $0.20. The company had revenue of $8.72 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.25 billion. Warner Bros. Discovery had a negative net margin of 8.77% and a negative return on equity of 8.91%. Warner Bros. Discovery’s revenue for the quarter was down 11.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.63 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Warner Bros. Discovery will post -1.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Warner Bros. Discovery news, insider Gerhard Zeiler sold 591,038 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.05, for a total transaction of $15,987,577.90. Following the transaction, the insider owned 537,436 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,537,643.80. This represents a 52.37% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO David Zaslav sold 194,999 shares of Warner Bros. Discovery stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.02, for a total transaction of $5,463,871.98. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 6,807,934 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $190,758,310.68. This represents a 2.78% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last three months, insiders sold 1,950,749 shares of company stock valued at $53,999,633. 0.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC boosted its stake in shares of Warner Bros. Discovery by 111.2% in the 2nd quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC now owns 942 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 496 shares during the last quarter. Field & Main Bank purchased a new stake in Warner Bros. Discovery during the second quarter valued at $26,000. Swiss RE Ltd. purchased a new stake in Warner Bros. Discovery during the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Warner Bros. Discovery by 64.3% in the second quarter. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,009 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 395 shares during the period. Finally, Archer Investment Corp bought a new position in Warner Bros. Discovery in the second quarter valued at about $27,000. Institutional investors own 59.95% of the company’s stock.

Key Headlines Impacting Warner Bros. Discovery

Here are the key news stories impacting Warner Bros. Discovery this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Warner Bros. Discovery reached a deal with Turkey’s Doğuş Media Group to bring Turkish scripted programming to HBO Max. The agreement could improve the service’s international content offering and subscriber appeal. WBD partners with Doğuş to bring Turkish drama to HBO Max
• Positive Sentiment: WBD launched a shoppable streaming experience in Poland, creating a potential new advertising and commerce revenue channel. The financial impact is likely limited initially but supports its broader streaming monetization strategy. WBD launches shoppable streaming experience in Poland
• Neutral Sentiment: WBD will discontinue the standalone discovery+ app in India, apparently consolidating content within a broader HBO Max strategy. The move could reduce operating complexity, although it may risk disrupting some existing customers. WBD to discontinue standalone discovery+ app in India
• Neutral Sentiment: Analysts maintain a consensus “Hold” rating on WBD, indicating limited conviction that the stock’s recent gains will continue without clearer improvement in profitability and its streaming outlook. WBD given consensus Hold rating
• Negative Sentiment: A director sold 200,000 WBD shares for approximately $5.67 million, reducing his direct holdings by 20.2%. While the sale may be personal or portfolio-related, the sizable insider transaction can weigh on sentiment. SEC insider-trading filing
• Negative Sentiment: A reported state antitrust lawsuit threatens Paramount’s proposed Warner Bros. Discovery deal, raising uncertainty over regulatory approval, timing and the potential value of the transaction. State antitrust lawsuit threatens Paramount’s Warner Bros. deal
• Negative Sentiment: Higher-rate expectations are pressuring higher-valuation media and streaming stocks. Although WBD has held relatively steady versus peers, the sector-wide repricing is limiting near-term upside. Rate repricing pressures streaming stocks

Warner Bros. Discovery Company Profile

Warner Bros. Discovery (NASDAQ: WBD) is a global media and entertainment company formed when WarnerMedia and Discovery, Inc combined their businesses in 2022. Headquartered in New York City, the company assembles a broad portfolio of film and television production, linear and cable networks, streaming services and consumer distribution operations. Its assets span well-known studio brands, premium scripted and unscripted programming, news and factual entertainment, and licensed franchise properties.

The company’s core activities include film and television production and distribution through units such as Warner Bros.