This spinoff needs to cut its debt

Article Excerpt

WARNER BROS. DISCOVERY INC. $7.66 is still a hold. The company (Nasdaq symbol WBD; Aggressive Growth Portfolio; Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 2.4 billion; Market cap: $18.4 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 0.5; No dividend paid; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.wbd.com) took its current form in April 2022 when AT&T merged its WarnerMedia business with Discovery Inc. AT&T investors received 0.241917 shares of WBD as a tax-free distribution for each share they owned. WBD’s top brands include Warner Bros. studio (TV shows and movies) and cable TV channels CNN, HBO, TNT, TBS, Cartoon Network, Discovery, HGTV, Food Network, TLC and Animal Planet. The company’s main focus since the merger is cutting its debt. WBD repaid $1.1 billion of its loans in the first quarter of 2024. Even so, its total debt of $43.2 billion (as of March 31, 2024) is still a high 2.3 times its market cap. It also held cash of $3.0 billion. Warner Bros. Discovery is still a hold. hold. …