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Robert Bakish, chief executive officer of Viacom
Chris Ratcliffe | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Here are the biggest calls on Wall Street on Wednesday:
Rosenblatt initiated World Wrestling Entertainment as ‘buy’
Rosenblatt said the stock represents one of the best ways to play the “content is king” thesis.
“Our thesis on the media industry is content is king and view WWE as one of the best public market ways to benefit from this theme. We see the recent pullback in shares driven by concerns over ratings and quarterly estimate revisions as a buying opportunity. Catalysts for shares over the next six months include an update on international TV rights renewals and capital allocation, both of which are contributors to our >20% FCF/share growth forecast in ’21 and beyond. “
Bank of America initiated iHeartMedia as ‘buy’
Bank of America said that traditional radio is still a great way to reach a wide audience and called iHeartMedia’s reach “vast.”
“Despite its labeling as “old media”, traditional radio (63% of IHRT revenues) remains one of the best ways to reach a scaled audience in an efficient, low cost manner. IHRT reaches a vast ~275mn broadcast radio listeners/mo. (>2x that of its closest peer), cultivating a large and stable terrestrial ad business and a thriving digital presence (~146mn social media followers, ~128mn registered iHeartRadio users and ~165mn podcast downloads/mo.). IHRT could also attract strategic interest. “
Bernstein downgraded CBS to ‘underperform’ from ‘market perform’
The firm feels CBS will lose more from inheriting Viacom’s structural problems than it will gain from any synergies.
“We believe whatever synergies are produced (we assume ~$750mm) will pale in comparison to CBS shareholders inheriting Viacom’s structural problems. CBS could choose to just harvest the tail of combined cash flows. We estimate the entity would then trade at about 6.8x EBITDA, which to us isn’t a compelling price to pay for harvesting a melting ice cube with no terminal value. For reference, we believe “flat FCF forever” would be worth about 7.5x.”
Goldman Sachs upgraded Ferrari to ‘buy’ from ‘neutral’
Goldman called the stock’s pullback a good “entry point.”
“We upgrade Ferrari from Neutral to Buy, offering c.15% upside to our new price targets of €163/US$182. Our thesis, outlined in Life of Luxury published last month, is fundamentally unchanged post Ferrari’s in-line 2Q results. We view the stock’s recent pullback (-7% since July 16) as a good entry point. “
Bank of America upgraded CBS to ‘buy’ from ‘neutral’
Bank of America said it liked the “enhanced” strategic positioning of the newly combined companies.
“With the overhang of leadership/M&A uncertainty now removed, enhanced strategic positioning, a fairly clear line of site on double-digit EPS accretion, optionality on further accretion via incremental cost and revenue synergies (the latter of which could begin to flow through via distribution upside by early CY2020E and upfront adv. upside by mid- CY2020E) and a historically low PF valuation of ~7x, we upgrade CBS shares from Neutral to Buy. “
