Warner Bros. Discovery (NASDAQ:WBD) Shares Gap Up After Earnings Beat

Shares of Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBD) gapped up prior to trading on Thursday following a stronger than expected earnings report. The stock had previously closed at $8.38, but opened at $9.02. Warner Bros. Discovery shares last traded at $9.52, with a volume of 15,441,142 shares trading hands.

The company reported $0.05 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.07) by $0.12. Warner Bros. Discovery had a negative return on equity of 27.28% and a negative net margin of 29.47%. The business had revenue of $9.62 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.79 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted ($0.17) EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 3.6% compared to the same quarter last year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on WBD shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price target on shares of Warner Bros. Discovery from $16.00 to $15.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of Warner Bros. Discovery from $10.00 to $8.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 9th. Rosenblatt Securities restated a “neutral” rating and set a $9.00 price target on shares of Warner Bros. Discovery in a research report on Friday, September 13th. Macquarie boosted their target price on shares of Warner Bros. Discovery from $8.00 to $9.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Needham & Company LLC restated a “hold” rating on shares of Warner Bros. Discovery in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Warner Bros. Discovery presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $10.55.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp raised its position in shares of Warner Bros. Discovery by 1.3% during the 1st quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp now owns 458,382 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,002,000 after buying an additional 5,830 shares in the last quarter. Empirical Finance LLC lifted its position in Warner Bros. Discovery by 3.5% in the 1st quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 79,751 shares of the company’s stock worth $696,000 after buying an additional 2,713 shares during the last quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP bought a new position in shares of Warner Bros. Discovery in the first quarter worth approximately $457,000. Empowered Funds LLC raised its holdings in Warner Bros. Discovery by 124.5% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 52,891 shares of the company’s stock valued at $462,000 after buying an additional 29,330 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. boosted its position in Warner Bros. Discovery by 1.0% during the 1st quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 380,578 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,322,000 after buying an additional 3,818 shares during the period. 59.95% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Warner Bros. Discovery Stock Performance

The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $7.90 and its 200-day simple moving average is $7.84. The firm has a market cap of $22.51 billion, a P/E ratio of -1.91 and a beta of 1.48. The company has a current ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06.

Warner Bros. Discovery Company Profile

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.