Warner Bros. Discovery (NASDAQ:WBD) Hits New 12-Month High - Time to Buy?

Key Points

• WBD shares surged to a new 52-week high of $30.92 after Paramount Skydance settled litigation with 12 states, removing a major antitrust obstacle to its proposed roughly $110 billion acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery.
• Investors appear encouraged that reported merger concessions—including up to $1.5 billion in California film production—will not fundamentally alter the transaction, though analysts’ consensus remains a “Hold” with a $28.22 price target.
• Despite beating quarterly EPS estimates, WBD reported 11.2% year-over-year revenue decline, negative margins and return on equity; insiders have also sold about $77.5 million of stock over the past 90 days.

Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBD - Get Free Report)'s stock price reached a new 52-week high during trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $30.92 and last traded at $30.80, with a volume of 234051856 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $27.80.

Warner Bros. Discovery News Summary

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

• Positive Sentiment: Major antitrust hurdle removed: The settlement resolves litigation brought by 12 states and substantially improves the probability that Paramount Skydance’s roughly $110 billion acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery can proceed. Paramount settles with California and other states, clearing major hurdle for Warner Bros merger
• Positive Sentiment: Merger certainty is driving the rally: Reports characterized the agreement as one of the final major obstacles to the transaction, prompting investors to reassess the likelihood and timing of deal completion. Paramount and state AGs will settle lawsuit, allowing Warner Bros. merger to proceed
• Positive Sentiment: Potential concessions appear manageable: Proposed terms reportedly include commitments such as as much as $1.5 billion in California film production, which may have been sufficient to secure regulatory support without fundamentally changing the transaction. Paramount reaches settlement with California’s Rob Bonta to clear Warner Bros. merger

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WBD has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Warner Bros. Discovery from a "sell (d-)" rating to a "sell (d+)" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 18th. Zacks Research raised shares of Warner Bros. Discovery from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 25th. Freedom Capital upgraded Warner Bros. Discovery from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, August 10th. Seaport Research Partners cut Warner Bros. Discovery from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, July 27th. Finally, Huber Research upgraded Warner Bros. Discovery from an "underweight" rating to an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, June 1st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $28.22.

Warner Bros. Discovery Stock Performance

The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $27.48 and a 200 day moving average price of $27.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 0.78. The stock has a market cap of $77.33 billion, a PE ratio of -24.25 and a beta of 1.57.

Warner Bros. Discovery (NASDAQ:WBD - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The company reported $0.06 earnings per share (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 analyst estimates of $9.25 billion. Warner Bros. Discovery had a negative return on equity of 8.91% and a negative net margin of 8.77%.The firm's quarterly revenue was down 11.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.63 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. will post -1.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Warner Bros. Discovery

In other Warner Bros. Discovery news, insider Amy Girdwood sold 262,285 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.98, for a total transaction of $7,338,734.30. Following the transaction, the insider owned 539,374 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,091,684.52. This represents a 32.72% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Gerhard Zeiler sold 591,038 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, August 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.05, for a total transaction of $15,987,577.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 537,436 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $14,537,643.80. This represents a 52.37% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 2,782,149 shares of company stock worth $77,455,972 over the last ninety days. 0.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Warner Bros. Discovery

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in WBD. HBK Investments L P increased its position in shares of Warner Bros. Discovery by 15.9% in the 2nd quarter. HBK Investments L P now owns 18,965,932 shares of the company's stock valued at $505,632,000 after acquiring an additional 2,604,732 shares during the period. Tidal Investments LLC lifted its position in Warner Bros. Discovery by 11.5% during the 2nd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 149,171 shares of the company's stock worth $3,977,000 after acquiring an additional 15,374 shares during the period. MCF Advisors LLC grew its stake in Warner Bros. Discovery by 35.3% during the 2nd quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 2,516 shares of the company's stock valued at $67,000 after purchasing an additional 656 shares during the last quarter. National Pension Service grew its stake in Warner Bros. Discovery by 3.5% during the 2nd quarter. National Pension Service now owns 6,792,065 shares of the company's stock valued at $181,076,000 after purchasing an additional 229,635 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC increased its holdings in shares of Warner Bros. Discovery by 17.7% in the second quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 35,326 shares of the company's stock valued at $942,000 after purchasing an additional 5,305 shares during the period. 59.95% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Warner Bros. Discovery

Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc is a global media and entertainment company that develops, produces and distributes television, film and digital content. Its portfolio includes Warner Bros. film and television studios, HBO, CNN, Discovery, TLC, HGTV, Food Network, TNT Sports and other well-known brands.

The company operates streaming services including Max, which features HBO programming, Warner Bros. films, original series and other entertainment content, and discovery+, which focuses on lifestyle, documentary and nonfiction programming.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.