It’s upfront season in Hollywood right now, which is a big deal as studios and content providers try to convince advertisers to buy advertising spots in advance. Media company Warner Bros Discovery (NASDAQ:WBD) recently staged its own upfront event, and the news was not great – not even slightly. In fact, shares were down over 4% in Wednesday afternoon’s trading.
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Several Warner figures, from Paul W. Downs and Hannah Einbender to Sarah Jessica Parker, came out to show off what’s coming to the various platforms. Sports presentations were also delivered, and perhaps the biggest win of the day was delivered by Shaquille O’Neal, who, while hosting a panel with Conan O’Brien, revealed he was “…here because I love ad sales. I’m the living proof of the WBD Effect.” It continued in this vein for quite some time, reports noted.
Outright Pandering?
When a studio can ask, as part of its upfronts, “Do you want to be in Superman?” it might have gone just a bit too far. Even the Hollywood Reporter called it “pandering,” and that likely didn’t sit well. Of course, the industry needs advertising sales to survive. That’s just part of the game. But is there no room left for class? For dignity? When Warner is pointing out how Sherwin-Williams (NYSE:SHW) got involved with “Shark Week,” it goes quite some way toward explaining why investors got fed up and sold out.
It also wasn’t lost on some that Warner referenced “the next 18 months of programming” at least once. That makes it clear that some of the impressive things seen at the upfront won’t even be available to work with for another year or more. It’s a good way to build hype, but with the very real risk that advertisers will go elsewhere in the meantime and inertia will kick in.
Is Warner Bros Discovery a Good Stock to Buy?
Turning to Wall Street, analysts have a Moderate Buy consensus rating on WBD stock based on 12 Buys, six Holds, and one Sell assigned in the past three months, as indicated by the graphic below. After a 32% loss in its share price over the past year, the average WBD price target of $12.41 per share implies 51.25% upside potential.
