Key Points
- Insider sale: Bruce Campbell sold 41,784 WBD shares on March 9 at an average price of $27.82 for roughly $1.16M, cutting his stake by 6.46% to 604,666 shares (about $16.82M).
- Earnings and outlook: WBD posted a quarterly loss of $0.10 EPS (missing the $0.09 consensus) on $9.46B revenue (down 5.7% YoY), and analysts' consensus is a "Hold" with an average price target of $26.30 and an expected -4.33 EPS for the fiscal year.
- Mixed sentiment and risks: Analyst coverage is mixed—with some upgrades but many Holds—and market signals (options flow, analyst notes) highlight integration/execution risks and moderately bearish hedging by traders.
Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBD - Get Free Report) insider Bruce Campbell sold 41,784 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.82, for a total value of $1,162,430.88. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 604,666 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $16,821,808.12. This trade represents a 6.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link.
Bruce Campbell also recently made the following trade(s):
- On Wednesday, March 4th, Bruce Campbell sold 55,118 shares of Warner Bros. Discovery stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.00, for a total transaction of $1,543,304.00.
- On Wednesday, March 4th, Bruce Campbell sold 1,580,331 shares of Warner Bros. Discovery stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.00, for a total transaction of $44,249,268.00.
Warner Bros. Discovery Trading Up 0.0%
NASDAQ:WBD opened at $27.76 on Wednesday. Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. has a 52 week low of $7.52 and a 52 week high of $30.00. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $28.23 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $23.61. The firm has a market cap of $68.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 95.73 and a beta of 1.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a current ratio of 1.06.
Warner Bros. Discovery (NASDAQ:WBD - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The company reported ($0.10) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.09 by ($0.19). The business had revenue of $9.46 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.33 billion. Warner Bros. Discovery had a return on equity of 1.98% and a net margin of 1.95%.The business's revenue was down 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted ($0.20) earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. will post -4.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Analysts Set New Price Targets
Several equities analysts have weighed in on WBD shares. Benchmark reissued a "hold" rating on shares of Warner Bros. Discovery in a report on Friday, February 27th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded Warner Bros. Discovery from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and increased their price target for the stock from $29.50 to $31.00 in a research note on Friday, February 27th. Wells Fargo & Company started coverage on Warner Bros. Discovery in a research note on Monday. They issued an "equal weight" rating and a $31.00 price objective on the stock. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Warner Bros. Discovery from a "sell (d+)" rating to a "hold (c-)" rating in a research report on Monday, February 23rd. Finally, Raymond James Financial reissued an "underperform" rating on shares of Warner Bros. Discovery in a research report on Friday, February 27th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating, fifteen have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $26.30.
Read Our Latest Research Report on Warner Bros. Discovery
More Warner Bros. Discovery News
Here are the key news stories impacting Warner Bros. Discovery this week:
- Positive Sentiment: Paramount CEO David Ellison met with Warner Bros. Discovery executives, called the prior bidding process “turbulent” but said it is “now behind us,” and praised HBO as a “gold standard” — language that suggests smoother deal communications and a reduced uncertainty premium if integration proceeds cooperatively. Paramount’s David Ellison Addresses Warner Bros. Execs at Town Hall
- Positive Sentiment: MoffettNathanson upgraded WBD from Hold to Strong-Buy, a bullish signal that can attract buy-side interest and support the stock if others follow. MoffettNathanson upgrade (via Zacks)
- Neutral Sentiment: Wells Fargo resumed coverage and initiated WBD at Equal Weight with a $31 price target (about mid-teens upside), a cautious institutional view that may stabilize shares but is not strongly bullish. Wells Fargo coverage initiated
- Negative Sentiment: Insider selling: Bruce Campbell sold 41,784 shares (~$1.16M). Single insider sales can be routine but may be viewed by some investors as reduced insider conviction or opportunistic profit-taking. SEC filing: Bruce Campbell sale
- Negative Sentiment: Bank of America and other analysts flag major integration and execution risks around the Paramount Skydance acquisition of WBD, noting the deal could take years to deliver benefits — this raises downside risk to near-term earnings and free cash flow forecasts. Paramount Skydance price target lowered (Proactive Investors)
- Negative Sentiment: Options market shows moderately bearish flow and increased demand for downside protection (put-call skew steepening), indicating traders are hedging against near-term downside. Options traders moderately bearish (Yahoo Finance)
- Negative Sentiment: Structural ad-market pressure: YouTube now generates more ad revenue than major traditional media players combined, highlighting secular ad-revenue challenges for WBD’s ad-supported businesses. YouTube ad revenue outpaces traditional media (Business Insider)
Institutional Trading of Warner Bros. Discovery
Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of WBD. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Warner Bros. Discovery by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 283,180,433 shares of the company's stock valued at $8,161,260,000 after purchasing an additional 1,966,278 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Warner Bros. Discovery by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 66,597,575 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,912,634,000 after buying an additional 1,028,346 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in Warner Bros. Discovery by 2.8% during the second quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 44,574,492 shares of the company's stock valued at $510,824,000 after buying an additional 1,233,195 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Warner Bros. Discovery during the fourth quarter worth about $1,123,807,000. Finally, Jericho Capital Asset Management L.P. increased its stake in Warner Bros. Discovery by 108.9% in the 3rd quarter. Jericho Capital Asset Management L.P. now owns 35,095,390 shares of the company's stock worth $685,413,000 after acquiring an additional 18,291,865 shares during the last quarter. 59.95% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
About Warner Bros. Discovery
(
Get Free Report)
Warner Bros. Discovery (NASDAQ: WBD) is a global media and entertainment company formed when WarnerMedia and Discovery, Inc combined their businesses in 2022. Headquartered in New York City, the company assembles a broad portfolio of film and television production, linear and cable networks, streaming services and consumer distribution operations. Its assets span well-known studio brands, premium scripted and unscripted programming, news and factual entertainment, and licensed franchise properties.
The company's core activities include film and television production and distribution through units such as Warner Bros.
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