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

Shares of Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBD) gapped up prior to trading on Thursday following a better than expected earnings announcement. 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 changing hands.

The company reported $0.05 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $9.62 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.79 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned ($0.17) earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 3.6% compared to the same quarter last year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have issued reports on WBD. TD Cowen cut their price objective on shares of Warner Bros. Discovery from $15.00 to $14.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price target on 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. Macquarie upped their target price on Warner Bros. Discovery from $8.00 to $9.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday. Needham & Company LLC restated a “hold” rating on shares of Warner Bros. Discovery in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Warner Bros. Discovery from $10.00 to $9.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $10.55.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of WBD. Sessa Capital IM L.P. increased its position in Warner Bros. Discovery by 28.8% in the 2nd quarter. Sessa Capital IM L.P. now owns 22,784,883 shares of the company’s stock valued at $169,520,000 after buying an additional 5,100,000 shares in the last quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama grew its stake in Warner Bros. Discovery by 781.3% in the second quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 4,316,498 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,115,000 after acquiring an additional 3,826,715 shares during the period. Mackenzie Financial Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Warner Bros. Discovery by 1,216.7% in the 2nd quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 3,009,558 shares of the company’s stock worth $22,391,000 after purchasing an additional 2,780,986 shares in the last quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. raised its holdings in Warner Bros. Discovery by 14.6% during the first quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. now owns 20,620,335 shares of the company’s stock worth $180,016,000 after buying an additional 2,621,582 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Drexel Morgan & Co. grew its holdings in shares of Warner Bros. Discovery by 43.5% during the third quarter. Drexel Morgan & Co. now owns 6,600,463 shares of the company’s stock valued at $54,454,000 after buying an additional 2,000,000 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 59.95% of the company’s stock.

Warner Bros. Discovery Stock Performance

The company has a current ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06. The company’s 50-day moving average is $7.90 and its two-hundred day 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.

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.