Broadcasting Stocks

With Paramount + not living up to its hype, some investors claim, companies with heavy investments in streaming could suffer from slower-than-anticipated growth. While that's a leap and based purely on speculation, some key radio station owners have been caught up in the sell-offs.

The powers that be at Spongebob's employer responded to the incredible growth of ViacomCBS stock by initiating a mammoth $3 billion equity offering following Monday's Closing Bell on Nasdaq. The reaction from investors? Sell! Sell! Sell! ViacomCBS shares are in a free-fall, with a 23.2% decline seen on Wednesday. Early after-hours trading saw a further dip for VIAC.

Investors appear a tad nervous about the full reopening of the U.S. economy from the year-long COVID-19 pandemic. And, if any setback occurs, companies with the most fragile profit plans are the most vulnerable. Is Entercom among that group of companies? Tuesday's Wall Street performance suggests the answer is yes.

Comscore's five-year stock trend is far from pretty. Two years ago, SCOR was suddenly slipping from a $20 price range; it started 2017 in the mid-$33 range. By August 2019, Comscore shares were at $1.86. Today, they start the week on a strong note, with a 7.4% jump in value on Monday. For CEO Bill Livek believes they're seriously undervalued.

Crude oil prices plunged 8% on Thursday, with European demand now less than anticipated. This, coupled with inflation concerns and the news that another 770,000 Americans filed new unemployment claims for the week ending March 13 sent U.S. financial markets downward. Several publicly traded media companies were swept up in the tide.

The goal, Sinclair Broadcast Group said, is for the broadcast TV company to reach new term loans which will provide for, among other things, a maturity date that is seven years after the effectiveness of the amendment.

Shares of iHeartMedia stock catapulted upward in one of the company's biggest-ever buying sessions on Wall Street. As the Closing Bell rang on the Nasdaq GlobalSelect Market on Tuesday, IHRT was up by more than 11% from Monday. Why? An analyst upgrade and big news out of Britain fueled the activity.

U.S. financial markets started the week off with up-and-down movement among broadcast media companies publicly trading stock on Wall Street. Nexstar shares continue to roar upward, while Sinclair's momentum was stopped on Monday. Moving downward: radio industry leaders Entercom and Beasley Media Group.

A special meeting of Comscore Inc. shareholders is now over. And, the results of the Tuesday event are now known. It's good news for one of America's biggest MVPDs and internet service providers.

Monday's trading saw gains of significance for Salem Media Group, Sinclair Broadcast Group, ViacomCBS, Disney and Cumulus Media. That said, Veritone Inc. suffered another dip of significance, falling $4.29 to $28.92 to continue a retreat from a recent growth trend for the audio attribution technology company actively seeking TV and radio clients.

Tech stocks paced a wave of declines on Wall Street Wednesday, as the Chair of the Federal Reserve declined to say whether or not the Central Bank will work to put a kibosh on inflationary pressure. Media stocks were caught up in the dips.

Entravision Communications Corp., which owns radio and TV stations superserving U.S. Hispanic consumers, has determined when it will share its final fourth quarter and full-year 2020 financial results. The announcement came on a highly active day for the company's stock.

Publicly traded radio and television broadcasting companies on Tuesday saw a flurry of highly divergent activity on Wall Street. Meredith Corp., Sinclair Broadcast Group and Entercom were among the key gainers. The decliners range from Saga Communications to Disney and Cumulus Media.

U.S. financial markets enjoyed widespread gains on Monday. But, not every media company took part in the upward activity. TEGNA, which released its Q4 and full-year 2020 results early Monday, saw its shares decline. Radio broadcasting company Townsquare Media, which will report its Q4 and full-year 2020 results in two weeks, was also down from Friday.

Thursday evening's big headline across business media was AT&T's revelation that it will sell a 30% stake in its satellite and terrestrial video services provider business, inclusive of DirecTV. The entity grabbing the stake: TPG Capital. For Moody's Investors Service, this is a credit positive move for AT&T.