Shares of Warner Bros. Discovery, Paramount Dip as Investors Take Stock of Potential Merger
variety.comTodd Spangler NY Digital Editor Would the combination of Warner Bros. Discovery and Paramount Global — two companies heavily tied to the declining legacy TV biz — make financial sense?
Investors reacted to news of early talks between Warner Bros. Discovery and Paramount about a potential merger, which broke just prior to market close Wednesday.
In early trading Thursday, shares of Paramount Global and WBD were both down around 4%. Year to date, Paramount Global shares are down more than 9%.
Meanwhile, Warner Bros. Discovery shares are up more than 22% so far in 2023. Wall Street wasn’t completely surprised to hear about WBD and Paramount Global’s merger talks, with many observers anticipating near-term M&A activity in the sector. “[W]e think these desperate times for media companies are leading them to explore desperate measures,” MoffettNathanson analyst Robert Fishman opined in a Dec.
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