Covid, neither gone nor forgotten in 2021, batted investors and markets for another year as attempts at business as usual were stymied by cycles of angst and rebound. Defensive stocks, growth stock…
knocked shares of Discovery and ViacomCBS and they never recovered. Consolidation — actual and rumored — was everywhere. But the biggest deal, the one set to reshape the landscape, had surprisingly little upside for shares of the players involved – AT&T or Discovery. Lionsgate’s stock was so low it said it might sell or spin off Starz. That helped., said one Wall Streeter. The bull case for Lionsgate stock: a spinoff of Starz that forces investors to value each separately.
Other media matters include the declining return of legacy assets and cord cutting, massive spending on content, the importance of live sports, big management realignments around streaming, international expansion, carriage battles and slower broadband growth, playing out against the broader economic backdrop of Covid , inflation, supply chain issues, economic tightening, pending interest rate hikes and constant fighting over key legislation on Capitol Hill.
Speaking of Capitol Hill — 2022 is a political year. “Midterm elections should be quite interesting with the House and Senate so close every seat will probably be a record amount of fundraising and a record mid-year, mid-term political cycle. Companies tied to political spending should do well,” said one analyst citing Nexstar, Gray and Fox stations. Politics will also be a boon for ratings at Fox News.
Disney has a special place among showbiz stocks as the only one included in the DJIA, and it was the worst performer in that 30-stock index this past year. It lost 13%, its biggest drop since 2008, when it fell nearly 30%. That’s a stark contrast to 2020, when it was buoyed by fast-growing Disney+.
Disney closed 2021 at $155 — up from a year low of $142 earlier this fall but well off a high of $203 in March, when theme parks and movie theaters reopened and streaming was still going gangbusters. Not all but most analysts that follow it rate it a “buy” based on price – it’s starting to look cheap. The ongoing
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