Call it the “COVID-19 Limbo Rock.” With some asking Wall Street, “How low can you go?,” investors on Wednesday largely abandoned their positions in many of the media industry’s biggest companies.
With the Dow 30 off 6.3% to 19,898.92 and the Nasdaq down 4.7% to 6,989.84, some familiar radio companies’ shares are in unfathomably low pricing funks.
The biggest eye-popping drop is perhaps that seen with post-bankruptcy audio content company Cumulus Media.
The owner of Westwood One saw its shares on Wednesday nosedive by a whopping 29.4%, to $4.65.
One month ago, shares were at $14.43.
Like many media companies, Cumulus could be the victim of a heavy live sports entertainment profile, through its Westwood One arm. The cancellation of the NCAA March Madness men’s basketball tournament is a likely trigger for the sell-off, on slightly lower-than-average volume of 73,500 shares.
Then, there is Entercom, which was assailed by the Los Angeles Daily News and many KROQ-FM in Los Angeles listeners on Twitter following the revelation Wednesday morning by Kevin Ryder that he and his co-hosts were fired on Tuesday by phone.
Ryder had been associated with the venerable Alternative Rock station since January 1990.
Entercom shares were at $1.61, up four cents from Wednesday’s 21.5% drop, in early after-hours trading.
On Feb. 18, shares were at $4.60.
With many iHeartMedia events now scrubbed, IHRT shares sailed southward by 14.4%, landing at $6.38.
The closing price one month ago: $17.90.
Meanwhile, the difficulties at Salem Media Group continued as shares fell to 79 cents, with a 9.2% decline.
Townsquare Media was also impacted, as shares finished the day at $3.82, down 8.2%.
For TV companies, the situation wasn’t much better, in particular with Nexstar Media Group.
For a full look at today’s closing prices and live trading action across each business day, please visit the Wall Street Report on the homepage of RBR.com
