Warner Bros. Discovery (NASDAQ:WBD) Given Equal Weight Rating at Wells Fargo & Company

Key Points

• Wells Fargo reaffirmed an equal weight rating on Warner Bros. Discovery with a $31 price target (about an 11.4% upside), while the street consensus remains a Hold with an average target near $26.30.
• WBD missed quarterly EPS expectations (reported -$0.10 vs. $0.09 expected) with revenue of $9.46B down 5.7% year‑over‑year, and analysts project roughly -4.33 EPS for the current year.
• Potential acquirers (Paramount Skydance) and renewed Tencent financing have created a roughly ~$110B takeover backdrop, but rising regulatory/political scrutiny and heavy insider selling (over 7.7M shares, ~$219M recently) raise execution and sentiment risk.

Warner Bros. Discovery (NASDAQ:WBD - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "equal weight" rating reaffirmed by equities research analysts at Wells Fargo & Company in a report released on Monday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $31.00 price target on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company's price target would indicate a potential upside of 11.39% from the company's previous close.

Other research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Raymond James Financial restated an "underperform" rating on shares of Warner Bros. Discovery in a report on Friday, February 27th. Barrington Research lowered Warner Bros. Discovery from an "outperform" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, December 5th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut Warner Bros. Discovery from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and increased their price target for the company from $29.50 to $31.00 in a research note on Friday, February 27th. Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $31.00 target price on Warner Bros. Discovery and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th. Finally, Guggenheim cut Warner Bros. Discovery from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and upped their target price for the stock from $25.00 to $30.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 14th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $26.30.

Warner Bros. Discovery Trading Down 0.4%

Warner Bros. Discovery stock traded down $0.12 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $27.83. 1,030,279 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 25,104,729. The firm has a market capitalization of $68.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 95.97 and a beta of 1.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a current ratio of 1.06. Warner Bros. Discovery has a fifty-two week low of $7.52 and a fifty-two week high of $30.00. The firm's 50 day moving average is $28.27 and its 200-day moving average is $23.39.

Warner Bros. Discovery (NASDAQ:WBD - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The company reported ($0.10) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.09 by ($0.19). Warner Bros. Discovery had a return on equity of 1.98% and a net margin of 1.95%.The business had revenue of $9.46 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.33 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned ($0.20) earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was down 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that Warner Bros. Discovery will post -4.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Warner Bros. Discovery

In other news, insider Gerhard Zeiler sold 600,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.02, for a total value of $16,812,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 672,649 shares of the company's stock, valued at $18,847,624.98. This trade represents a 47.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Priya Aiyar sold 223,512 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.24, for a total value of $6,311,978.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 919,252 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $25,959,676.48. This represents a 19.56% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 7,777,159 shares of company stock valued at $219,427,326. 1.80% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Warner Bros. Discovery

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. TriaGen Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Warner Bros. Discovery in the 3rd quarter worth about $443,000. Penserra Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Warner Bros. Discovery by 29,882.6% in the second quarter. Penserra Capital Management LLC now owns 62,064 shares of the company's stock worth $710,000 after purchasing an additional 61,857 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Warner Bros. Discovery by 7.4% in the 2nd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 19,463,234 shares of the company's stock worth $223,049,000 after purchasing an additional 1,333,005 shares during the period. Swedbank AB boosted its stake in shares of Warner Bros. Discovery by 3.7% in the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 1,065,445 shares of the company's stock worth $20,808,000 after buying an additional 37,986 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH lifted its holdings in Warner Bros. Discovery by 1.0% in the second quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH now owns 1,572,301 shares of the company's stock valued at $18,019,000 after acquiring an additional 16,006 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 59.95% of the company's stock.

More Warner Bros. Discovery News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Paramount Skydance submitted and won a ~$110 billion bid to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery, creating a large takeover premium that supports higher equity value if the deal closes. Market Chatter: Warner Bros. Discovery, Paramount Skydance, Discuss Passive Tencent Investment for Acquisition Deal
• Positive Sentiment: Reports say Tencent has re‑entered the financing picture with fresh funding tied to the Paramount offer, improving deal financing visibility and lowering execution risk if regulatory hurdles can be managed. Tencent Is Said to Be Back On Paramount‑Warner Bros Deal With Fresh Funding
• Neutral Sentiment: Standalone analysis pieces contrasting WBD with peers (e.g., Bilibili) provide valuation and business-model context but are unlikely to move the stock absent new fundamentals. Contrasting Bilibili & Warner Bros. Discovery
• Negative Sentiment: Political and regulatory risk is rising: Democratic senators are publicly criticizing the lack of a national‑security review for the Paramount‑WBD deal, flagging potential delays, additional review or divestiture demands that could complicate closing. Democratic Senators Slam Trump Administration’s Inaction on Reviewing Paramount’s Warner Bros. Deal
• Negative Sentiment: Several insiders — including the CFO — have sold large blocks of WBD stock in recent filings (aggregate filings reported ~ $53M across multiple transactions), which investors often interpret as a negative signal ahead of a corporate change or personal liquidity events. Insider Selling: Warner Bros. Discovery CFO Sells $17,446,635.00 in Stock
• Negative Sentiment: Moffett Nathanson cut WBD to Hold, reflecting near‑term uncertainty around the company’s standalone prospects and deal execution; analyst downgrades can pressure the stock while the takeover/regulatory picture unfolds. Warner Bros. Discovery Cut to Hold at Moffett Nathanson

About Warner Bros. Discovery

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.

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.