Warner. Bros. Discovery (NASDAQ:WBD) fell 4.2% after TD Cowen cut the entertainment giant to hold from buy, citing deal uncertainty related to a potential bid from Paramount Skydance (NASDAQ:PSKY).
“While PSKY may come in with a $20+ bid, we don’t love the risk-reward here given the potential for WBD shares to quickly round-trip to $11-$12 if the bid doesn’t materialize,” TD Cowen analyst Doug Creutz, who has a $14 price target on PSKY, wrote in a note on Tuesday.
While there may be other potential strategic suitors for Warner Bros. Discovery (NASDAQ:WBD), they are likely limited. Regulatory hurdles for Comcast (CMCSA) would be higher than for Paramount Skydance (NASDAQ:PSKY) due to Trump’s animosity towards legacy media; the capital commitment required for Sony (SONY) would likely be too high; and other large tech companies are unlikely to bid because synergies of a deal with PSKY would be much higher.
“Sometimes the best move is to admit you don’t have a particular edge on a situation and move to the sidelines; that is what we are doing here,” TD Cowen’s Creutz addded.