Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBD) Short Interest Update

Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBD) saw a large decrease in short interest during the month of January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totaling 77,486,708 shares, a decrease of 21.7% from the December 31st total of 98,974,919 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 26,076,592 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.0 days. Currently, 3.2% of the company’s stock are short sold. Currently, 3.2% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 26,076,592 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.0 days.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO Lori C. Locke sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.62, for a total transaction of $138,100.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 110,084 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,040,520.08. The trade was a 4.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Gunnar Wiedenfels sold 242,994 shares of Warner Bros. Discovery stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.50, for a total value of $7,168,323.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 918,940 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $27,108,730. The trade was a 20.91% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 267,116 shares of company stock valued at $7,781,731 in the last 90 days. 1.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Warner Bros. Discovery by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 283,180,433 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,161,260,000 after buying an additional 1,966,278 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Warner Bros. Discovery by 0.9% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 60,091,463 shares of the company’s stock valued at $685,798,000 after acquiring an additional 551,548 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 1,233,195 shares during the last quarter. Jericho Capital Asset Management L.P. lifted its holdings in shares of Warner Bros. Discovery by 108.9% during the third quarter. Jericho Capital Asset Management L.P. now owns 35,095,390 shares of the company’s stock worth $685,413,000 after purchasing an additional 18,291,865 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Warner Bros. Discovery in the second quarter worth $306,848,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 59.95% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WBD has been the topic of several research reports. Rothschild & Co Redburn raised Warner Bros. Discovery from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $28.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “buy” rating and issued a $29.50 price target on shares of Warner Bros. Discovery in a research note on Monday, December 8th. Arete Research increased their price objective on Warner Bros. Discovery from $30.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 11th. TD Cowen lifted their target price on Warner Bros. Discovery from $14.00 to $22.00 in a report on Friday, November 7th. Finally, Guggenheim downgraded shares of Warner Bros. Discovery from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price target for the company from $25.00 to $30.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 14th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating and twelve have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Warner Bros. Discovery presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $25.08.

Key Stories Impacting Warner Bros. Discovery

Here are the key news stories impacting Warner Bros. Discovery this week:

• Positive Sentiment: An Argus analyst reiterated a positive outlook on WBD, saying the stock is expected to rise—this provides a near-term bullish analyst catalyst that can support the share price. Warner Bros. Discovery (NASDAQ:WBD) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Argus Analyst Says
• Positive Sentiment: Warner Bros. Discovery struck a promotional/distribution partnership with X around the Winter Olympics—such platform deals can broaden reach and ad inventory, supporting ad revenue and streaming promotional efforts. Warner Bros. Discovery Partners With X On Winter Olympics
• Positive Sentiment: Market speculation and trading flow show bets around a possible Warner Bros.–Netflix deal; heightened positioning can amplify moves if deal optimism increases. (High short interest in WBD also raises volatility.) Wall Street traders show their hands with bets on Warner Bros. Discovery-Netflix deal
• Neutral Sentiment: Reports say Barry Diller expressed interest in buying CNN from WBD, but WBD publicly said CNN is not for sale and the idea did not advance to the board—this creates occasional M&A chatter but no concrete asset-sale catalyst. Barry Diller Told Warner Discovery He’s Interested in Buying CNN
• Neutral Sentiment: Profiles and commentary on potential leadership/strategy moves (e.g., coverage of David Ellison’s plans) add background on governance and strategic options but contain limited immediate financial detail. What Is David Ellison’s Warner Bros. Endgame?
• Negative Sentiment: Filmmakers and small theaters have urged state attorneys general to block the reported Netflix–Warner Bros. deal—this raises regulatory/legal risk that could scuttle or materially delay any transaction and weigh on the stock. State AGs urged by filmmakers, small theaters to block Netflix-Warner Bros. deal: report
• Negative Sentiment: Industry reporting highlights weakening box-office performance for major franchise films—this is a headwind for WBD’s theatrical revenue and franchise monetization, increasing near-term revenue uncertainty. Hollywood has an IP problem: Box office sales are banking on franchise hits that keep falling flat

Warner Bros. Discovery Price Performance

Shares of Warner Bros. Discovery stock traded down $0.06 during trading on Friday, reaching $27.54. 24,229,739 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 23,039,668. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $27.69 and its 200 day moving average price is $20.58. The company has a market cap of $68.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 144.95 and a beta of 1.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a current ratio of 1.07. Warner Bros. Discovery has a 1-year low of $7.52 and a 1-year high of $30.00.

Warner Bros. Discovery (NASDAQ:WBD) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 6th. The company reported ($0.06) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.04) by ($0.02). Warner Bros. Discovery had a net margin of 1.28% and a return on equity of 1.34%. The company had revenue of $9.05 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.17 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.05 EPS. Warner Bros. Discovery’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Warner Bros. Discovery will post -4.33 earnings per share for the current year.

About Warner Bros. Discovery

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.