Spinoff spotlight: Warner Bros. Discovery Inc.

Article Excerpt

WARNER BROS. DISCOVERY INC. $11 is still a hold. The company (Nasdaq symbol WBD; Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 2.4 billion; Market cap: $26.4 billion; No dividend paid; Takeover Target Rating: Medium; www.wbd.com) took its current form in April 2022 when AT&T merged its WarnerMedia business with Discovery Inc. AT&T investors received 0.241917 shares of WBD as a tax-free distribution for each share they owned. WBD’s top brands include Warner Bros. studio (TV shows and movies) and cable TV channels CNN, HBO, TNT, TBS, Cartoon Network, Discovery, HGTV, Food Network, TLC and Animal Planet. The company’s main focus since the merger is cutting its debt. WBD repaid $2.4 billion of its loans in the third quarter of 2023. Even so, its total debt of $45.3 billion (as of September 30, 2023) is a high 1.7 times its market cap. It also held cash of $2.4 billion. WBD should benefit from the end of the strikes by Hollywood writers and actors. However, it will take several weeks to re-start…