Two months after the shock firing of star Tucker Carlson, Fox Corporation got some awful news from Wall Street.
Wells Fargo analysts downgraded shares of Fox Corporation (NASDAQ: FOXA) to underweight from equal weight on Monday. The analysts also lowered the price target to $31 from $35 per share.
The analysts said: “Fox News is the FOXA cash cow at ~80% of our FY24E EBITDA. Viewership is down -19% Jan-June’23 vs Jan-June’21 due to cord cutting and/or programming.
“More worryingly, Fox News was 52% of cable news primetime viewership for 2020-22, 51% in Jan’23, and that has slid to a low of 38% in June’23 post-TC.
“FN’s share of conservative news viewers has fallen from 94% to 84%.
“While the new PT lineup could drive a rebound, we think Fox News is a Show Me viewership story.
“ESPN DTC could add fuel to the fire.
“FOXA Cable could soon go ex-growth on EBITDA like we’ve seen for peer linear nets.
“TV has better topline growth, but less ability to reduce costs due to sports rights. If FOXA is 1% worse cord cutting p.a. vs our ests. = -7% downside to total FY24E-26E EBITDA,” they said.
This comes after other Wall Street analysts did the same.
Bank of America downgraded Fox shares from a buy rating to a neutral rating and decreased its target price.
Argus cut shares of Fox from buy to hold.
Barclays decreased its price target on Fox from $36 to $35 and set an equal weight rating.
Rosenblatt Securities on April 19 lowered its target price on Fox from $35.00 to $33.00.
Meanwhile, Newsmax is on the rise.
Newsmax’s total day rating rose 71% as Fox News declined 15% in the same period.
In the prime time hours, Newsmax saw its audience grow 126% as Fox’s audience fell 21%.
Fox News Viewership Tumult, Cord-Cutting Risk Leads to Wall Street Ratings Downgrade https://t.co/9Z9zIwi5y5
— The Hollywood Reporter (@THR) July 10, 2023
