We know that the Skydance / Paramount (PARA) merger has been on rocky ground pretty much ever since it was announced. But there are some signs now that suggest it may go through, thanks to Larry Ellison’s personal connection with the Trump administration. The hope alone is fueling gains, and shares were up over 1.5% in the closing minutes of Friday’s trading.
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The Stargate project, as it is known, represents a $500 billion push into the world of artificial intelligence (AI), and is also one of the major new initiatives of the now-days-old Trump administration. And Larry Ellison has been getting on board with the project, which is both underfunded and surprisingly valuable.
Right now, according to fellow CEO Elon Musk, Stargate has “well under $10B secured.” Given that Ellison is worth over 20 times that, he may be the piggy bank Stargate needs to get off the ground. And of course, in the quid-pro-quo world of modern politics, the price to get in Ellison’s wallet may be a smoother merger for Skydance and Paramount.
Something’s Got to Give
And that may be what Paramount needs right now, because its future with Star Trek is not looking bright. A new report suggests that the newest Trek so far, Star Trek: Section 31, met audiences like a pumpkin meets a razor wire fence at 80 miles per hour. If that sounds like hyperbole, well, it might be, but the new title managed to come away from Rotten Tomatoes with a score of, amazingly, 31%.
That represents the second worst score of all time for any Trek franchise ever. Only Star Trek V: The Final Frontier—the one directed by William Shatner himself—managed to score worse, coming in at a 23%. That is terrible news, and puts a lot of weight on the third season of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds when it makes its appearance sometime in 2025. And given that Section 31 is all the new Trek Paramount will have for quite some time, it leaves a serious void in a tentpole franchise.
Is Paramount Stock a Good Buy Right Now?
Turning to Wall Street, analysts have a Hold consensus rating on PARA stock based on three Buys, seven Holds and five Sells assigned in the past three months, as indicated by the graphic below. After a 19.6% loss in its share price over the past year, the average PARA price target of $12.45 per share implies 12.47% upside potential.
