The merger between entertainment giant Paramount (PARA) and successful suitor Skydance Media may be imperiled thanks to a name we have not heard in a while: billionaire investor Mario Gabelli. Gabelli has been opposed to at least some parts and some versions of the Paramount/Skydance deal for some time, and it may be facing a delay. Paramount shareholders did not approve at all, and shares slid nearly 2.5% in the closing minutes of Wednesday’s trading.
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Gabelli is appealing to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), asking them to pause their own review of the deal while Gabelli stages a more thorough review of Paramount’s numbers. Gabelli’s investment fund currently owns 12.5% of Paramount’s Class A shares and around 900,000 of its Class B shares.
This is actually something of a step up for Gabelli; while he has been publicly seen as opposed to the deal for some time—Deadline noted that he has suspected departing board member Shari Redstone of “enrich(ing) herself at the expense of some shareholders”—he also noted that he was not planning to file a lawsuit back then. Rather, he was doing his “fiduciary duty” to investors. This, however, is a significant step up from his earlier, less-threatening stance.
New Kelvin Trek Update
Regardless of how the merger ultimately turns out, there is an update about the next Star Trek movie that is still in the works. This one will be considered something of a prequel, an “origin story” that will take place “decades” before the 2009 reboot’s events took place.
It will be set in the Kelvin timeline—the timeline set for movies that came after 2009, used so as not to interfere with canonical events set by the previous films—and a script is already complete. It is being submitted to the studio itself for a green light, and should all go well, will start shooting sometime in the first half of 2025. As one of Paramount’s premiere franchises, this should be helpful, though potentially not any time soon, depending on how shooting goes.
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 9.06% loss in its share price over the past year, the average PARA price target of $12.36 per share implies 9.92% upside potential.
