Yesterday’s surprising development that Skydance came back to woo Paramount (NASDAQ:PARA) with a sweetened offer caught a lot of attention. In fact, it also caught the attention of Paramount’s special committee, which evaluates the deals and makes recommendations accordingly. The move wasn’t much help to investors, though, as shares were down fractionally in Friday afternoon’s trading.
The Skydance offer, which extended olive branches to pretty much all shareholders, as opposed to just the Class A shareholders or even just Shari Redstone, who holds a controlling interest, was enough for the special committee. But as it turns out, just as this offer emerged, reports note that there are others going after National Amusements, the private company that controls Paramount.
Hollywood producer Steven Paul is making a play for National Amusements, offering up to $3 billion, and one other investor group has a similar plan in mind. Meanwhile, the Sony (NYSE:SONY) and Apollo Global Management (NYSE:APO) bid is still under consideration, and Byron Allen is largely nowhere to be seen.
Cutting Back on Content
This comes at an odd time for Paramount, but it’s just shut down plans for a “Dungeons & Dragons” television series. Said to be building on the recent success of “Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves,” Paramount commissioned an eight-episode direct-to-series pack a while back but has since shut down production on the project. That’s leaving the developers scrambling for new potential partners, and given how many streaming platforms there are these days, it may not take long to get one.
It’s not immediately clear why Paramount changed its mind. With fantasy series making some inroads after the likes of “The Rings of Power” and “The Wheel of Time,” not to mention “Game of Thrones” and its spin-offs, it would have seemed like a safe bet to many except Paramount.
What Is the Future of Paramount Stock?
Turning to Wall Street, analysts have a Moderate Sell consensus rating on PARA stock based on two Buys, eight Holds, and eight Sells assigned in the past three months, as indicated by the graphic below. After a 22.41% loss in its share price over the past year, the average PARA price target of $12.27 per share implies 4.16% upside potential.
