Barrington Research Issues Negative Outlook for WBD Earnings

Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBD) – Stock analysts at Barrington Research lowered their FY2024 earnings per share estimates for shares of Warner Bros. Discovery in a report issued on Tuesday, February 4th. Barrington Research analyst P. Sholl now expects that the company will earn ($4.48) per share for the year, down from their previous forecast of ($4.44). Barrington Research currently has a “Outperform” rating and a $16.00 price target on the stock. The consensus estimate for Warner Bros. Discovery’s current full-year earnings is ($4.33) per share. Barrington Research also issued estimates for Warner Bros. Discovery’s Q4 2024 earnings at ($0.06) EPS, Q1 2025 earnings at ($0.14) EPS, Q2 2025 earnings at ($0.30) EPS, Q3 2025 earnings at ($0.09) EPS, Q4 2025 earnings at ($0.05) EPS, FY2025 earnings at ($0.58) EPS, Q1 2026 earnings at ($0.08) EPS, Q2 2026 earnings at ($0.30) EPS, Q3 2026 earnings at ($0.06) EPS and FY2026 earnings at ($0.40) EPS.

Warner Bros. Discovery (NASDAQ:WBD) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported $0.05 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.07) by $0.12. Warner Bros. Discovery had a negative net margin of 28.34% and a negative return on equity of 27.56%. The company had revenue of $9.62 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.79 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned ($0.17) earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 3.6% on a year-over-year basis.

WBD has been the topic of a number of other reports. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Warner Bros. Discovery in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. KeyCorp raised their price target on shares of Warner Bros. Discovery from $11.00 to $14.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Bank of America reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $14.00 price objective on shares of Warner Bros. Discovery in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Rosenblatt Securities raised their price target on shares of Warner Bros. Discovery from $9.00 to $13.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Wolfe Research raised shares of Warner Bros. Discovery from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Warner Bros. Discovery currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $11.76.

Warner Bros. Discovery Trading Up 1.3 %

WBD stock opened at $10.19 on Thursday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $10.46 and its 200-day simple moving average is $8.96. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03. Warner Bros. Discovery has a 52-week low of $6.64 and a 52-week high of $12.70. The firm has a market cap of $25.00 billion, a P/E ratio of -2.22, a PEG ratio of 6.36 and a beta of 1.49.

Institutional Trading of Warner Bros. Discovery

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of WBD. State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of Warner Bros. Discovery by 4.1% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 151,285,963 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,248,109,000 after buying an additional 5,898,611 shares during the period. Sessa Capital IM L.P. lifted its stake in shares of Warner Bros. Discovery by 24.7% during the third quarter. Sessa Capital IM L.P. now owns 28,410,428 shares of the company’s stock valued at $234,386,000 after buying an additional 5,625,545 shares during the period. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Warner Bros. Discovery by 2.6% during the third quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. now owns 21,396,719 shares of the company’s stock valued at $176,523,000 after buying an additional 541,192 shares during the period. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Warner Bros. Discovery by 1.6% during the third quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 20,889,437 shares of the company’s stock valued at $172,338,000 after buying an additional 329,620 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Warner Bros. Discovery by 4.6% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 15,685,506 shares of the company’s stock worth $129,405,000 after purchasing an additional 687,612 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 59.95% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Warner Bros. Discovery

In other Warner Bros. Discovery news, insider Savalle Sims sold 169,436 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $12.36, for a total transaction of $2,094,228.96. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 599,317 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,407,558.12. This represents a 22.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 1.80% of the company’s stock.

About Warner Bros. Discovery

Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc operates as a media and entertainment company worldwide. It operates through three segments: Studios, Network, and DTC. The Studios segment produces and releases feature films for initial exhibition in theaters; produces and licenses television programs to its networks and third parties and direct-to-consumer services; distributes films and television programs to various third parties and internal television; and offers streaming services and distribution through the home entertainment market, themed experience licensing, and interactive gaming.