Shares of media giant Paramount (PARA) fell in today’s trading after news emerged that it is planning to sell VidCon, a conference geared toward media creators, to Informa, a media firm in the UK. This is a move that has been reportedly building up for some time. Indeed, earlier this year, Paramount hired consultants to explore a sale of VidCon, and Informa stepped up with £1.2 billion, or around $1.57 billion.
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Informa already has quite a presence within the fan expo sector, as it controls the Toronto Comicon. While this is not exactly what VidCon handles—VidCon tends to focus more on influencers and social media than anything else—several Informa properties at least intersect with its current lineup. In fact, a Business Insider report suggested that Informa might have taken VidCon over as a way to get more users in the fold overall and offer more appeal to advertisers.
Spooky Season Plans
Meanwhile, with the arrival of September comes the arrival of spooky season, as horror buffs get ready for Halloween in earnest. You can already find Halloween décor out there, with pumpkin-spiced everything making its annual comeback. And Paramount is gearing up with some new plans in the near term.
For instance, October 18 will see the return of Smile to theaters. Smile 2 will feature Naomi Scott taking on the smile curse in the midst of a world tour as pop star Skye Riley. Drew Barrymore is also slated to take a role in Smile 2. Further, starting September 8, Paramount will be offering access to every Star Trek premiere at no charge to anyone. That happens to be Star Trek Day, and Paramount is celebrating by offering up a handful of free Trek episodes, which will hopefully boost interest in Paramount+.
Is Paramount a Good Stock to Buy Now?
Turning to Wall Street, analysts have a Moderate Sell consensus rating on PARA stock based on three Buys, eight Holds, and eight Sells assigned in the past three months, as indicated by the graphic below. After a 22.78% loss in its share price over the past year, the average PARA price target of $12.06 per share implies 15.79% upside potential.
