Traders Buy Large Volume of Call Options on Warner Bros. Discovery (NASDAQ:WBD)

Key Points

• Stock traders purchased a significant volume of 50,124 call options for Warner Bros. Discovery, a 43% increase over the average volume, indicating heightened interest in the stock.
• Despite trading up 2.1% on Monday, the company's quarterly earnings report revealed a loss of $0.18 per share, missing estimates and showing a 9.8% decline in revenue compared to the prior year.
• Research firms have recently upgraded their price targets for Warner Bros. Discovery, with Consensus price targets ranging from $10.00 to $18.00, reflecting varying analyst confidence in the stock's potential.

Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBD - Get Free Report) saw some unusual options trading activity on Monday. Stock traders bought 50,124 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 43% compared to the average volume of 35,086 call options.

Warner Bros. Discovery Price Performance

WBD traded down $0.58 on Tuesday, reaching $13.12. 67,556,306 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 74,958,104. The stock has a market cap of $32.21 billion, a PE ratio of -2.98 and a beta of 1.54. Warner Bros. Discovery has a twelve month low of $6.64 and a twelve month high of $13.86. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $10.94 and its 200-day moving average price is $10.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 0.84 and a quick ratio of 0.84.

Warner Bros. Discovery (NASDAQ:WBD - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The company reported ($0.18) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.12) by ($0.06). The business had revenue of $8.98 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.66 billion. Warner Bros. Discovery had a negative return on equity of 30.56% and a negative net margin of 28.16%. The business's revenue was down 9.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.40) earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Warner Bros. Discovery will post -4.33 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently commented on the stock. KeyCorp dropped their price target on shares of Warner Bros. Discovery from $14.00 to $13.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 14th. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Warner Bros. Discovery from $9.00 to $10.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Warner Bros. Discovery from $9.00 to $13.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Citigroup dropped their price target on shares of Warner Bros. Discovery from $15.00 to $14.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Warner Bros. Discovery from $12.00 to $10.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Warner Bros. Discovery presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $12.41.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Warner Bros. Discovery

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of WBD. Brighton Jones LLC raised its stake in Warner Bros. Discovery by 304.9% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 68,950 shares of the company's stock worth $729,000 after purchasing an additional 51,920 shares during the period. Teacher Retirement System of Texas raised its stake in Warner Bros. Discovery by 39.9% during the fourth quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 21,802 shares of the company's stock worth $230,000 after purchasing an additional 6,217 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. raised its stake in Warner Bros. Discovery by 249.3% during the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,797,336 shares of the company's stock worth $18,998,000 after purchasing an additional 1,282,709 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co. raised its stake in Warner Bros. Discovery by 9.3% during the fourth quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 700,986 shares of the company's stock worth $7,409,000 after purchasing an additional 59,883 shares during the period. Finally, LPL Financial LLC raised its stake in Warner Bros. Discovery by 22.3% during the fourth quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 994,319 shares of the company's stock worth $10,510,000 after purchasing an additional 181,176 shares during the period. 59.95% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Warner Bros. Discovery Company Profile

Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc operates as a media and entertainment company worldwide. It operates through three segments: Studios, Network, and DTC. The Studios segment produces and releases feature films for initial exhibition in theaters; produces and licenses television programs to its networks and third parties and direct-to-consumer services; distributes films and television programs to various third parties and internal television; and offers streaming services and distribution through the home entertainment market, themed experience licensing, and interactive gaming.