ViacomCBS Inc, an American diversified multinational mass media conglomerate, is expected to report its fourth-quarter earnings of $0.37 per share, which represents a year-over-year decline of over 60% from $1.04 per share seen in the same period a year ago.
The mass media company would post revenue growth of more than 9% to $7.51 billion from $6.87 billion a year earlier. The company has beaten consensus earnings estimates in most of the quarters in the last two years, at least.
ViacomCBS stock traded flat at $35.99 in pre-market trading on Monday. The stock rose more than 19% so far this year after slumping nearly 19% in 2021.
“We believe ViacomCBS can use its greater scale to secure continued distribution and avoid a major pricing reset or lost distribution. However, even in the context of healthier than expected distribution revenues, traditional TV ad exposure and the rising need for investment could pressure margins. We see significant opportunity for Paramount+ and Showtime OTT to scale and help mitigate pressures within the traditional media ecosystem, though there is limited visibility into long-term profitability,” noted Benjamin Swinburne, equity analyst at Morgan Stanley.
”Digital advertising through Pluto and AMS may be the answer to driving healthy ad growth but visibility is low. We continue to view the Paramount film studio as a scarce, valuable asset.”
Six analysts who offered stock ratings for ViacomCBS in the last three months forecast the average price in 12 months of $42.00 with a high forecast of $53.00 and a low forecast of $32.00.
The average price target represents a 16.67% change from the last price of $36.00. Of those six analysts, three rated “Buy”, three rated “Hold”, while none rated “Sell”, according to Tipranks.
Morgan Stanley gave the base target price of $37 with a high of $52 under a bull scenario and $22 under the worst-case scenario. The investment bank gave an “Equal-weight” rating on the mass media company’s stock.
Several analysts have also updated their stock outlook. Deutsche Bank raised the target price to $43 from $39. Rosenblatt Securities cut the target price to $42 from $45. Citigroup lowered the price target to $52 from $54. BMO slashed the target price to $29 from $36.
Technical analysis suggests it is good to hold as 100-day Moving Average and 100-200-day MACD Oscillator showing a mixed signal.
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This article was originally posted on FX Empire
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