While Paramount (PARA) may have lost ground in Nielsen’s stream rankings during June, the good news is that investors don’t seem very worried about it. In fact, despite that drop, shares of the media company were up over 1.5% in Tuesday afternoon’s trading.
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Paramount is now fifth on the overall list of media distributors by Nielsen’s monthly rankings, as Disney (DIS) shot to the top of the rankings. YouTube immediately followed by a fairly close margin, along with NBCUniversal (CMCSA) and Netflix (NFLX).
Netflix actually pulled off a pretty significant coup, the report revealed, raising its share of the television usage pie to 8.4%. That may not sound particularly impressive, but that’s even better when compared to the previous month, where it was just 7.6%. Amazingly, just under 3% of use separates top-ranked Disney from fifth-place Paramount, so the numbers are actually pretty close together at the top.
However, NBCUniversal’s numbers are likely to turn around soon, thanks to the upcoming airing of the Paris Olympics. That’s very likely to draw in a lot of users and pull some of them away from other providers, if only in the short term. Still, those numbers will serve as marketing fodder for months to come.
Preparing for the Future
The good news for Paramount is that it’s already getting ready for the future. It’s canceled two of its series but is planning renewals for seven others. On the chopping block is “Wolf Pack,” which featured Sarah Michelle Gellar in a show about a cryptid and his best friends, a group of teenagers. Also up for loss is “Halo.” Meanwhile, “Seal Team” and “Star Trek: Lower Decks” aren’t canceled but are ending.
On the other hand, “Colin From Accounts” got renewed, as did the “Frasier” revival, “SkyMed,” “Star Trek: Strange New Worlds,” “Dora,” “Lioness,” and “Criminal Minds: Evolution.” A fairly decent slate, but Paramount will need to pick up its new show count to prevent from having too many holes in the lineup. Some new “Star Trek” installments are planned, which should help, as well as some other new titles to make up for the others.
Is Paramount a Good Stock to Buy?
Turning to Wall Street, analysts have a Moderate Sell consensus rating on PARA stock based on three Buys, seven Holds, and 10 Sells assigned in the past three months, as indicated by the graphic below. After a 23.05% loss in its share price over the past year, the average PARA price target of $12 per share implies 2.04% upside potential.
