While there are those who believe that entertainment giant Paramount Skydance (PSKY) could not possibly release 30 films in a year, with or without Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) and its operations to back Paramount up, David Ellison is making it clear: 30 is the number it is going for. But that number does not come without caveats, and those caveats hit shareholders like a bus. Paramount shares dropped nearly 4% in the closing minutes of Tuesday’s trading.
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While some believe that Paramount’s goal of 30 films with Warner in its corner is just a bridge too far, Ellison believes that this is not so out of line. Ellison even noted that the two companies were already in the process of hitting the 30-film mark combined, and that number was “accelerating” as it sat. So getting out 30 films in the first year after the two combine might not be so crazy after all.
However, the bad news came on the heels of Ellison’s projections. Paramount expects “…significantly lower theatrical revenue year-over-year due to lower average box office revenue per film across more releases in 2026 as we build into our 2027+ slates.” Last year, after all, Paramount rolled out Mission: Impossible—The Final Reckoning. That $600 million juggernaut is not likely to be matched, or beaten, by anything in Paramount’s stables this year, reports suggest.
Pluto Shift
Pluto TV viewers may be in for a nasty surprise to come, though, as reports note that Pluto will be relaunching on Paramount+ this summer. The result, Paramount noted, would be to give users a better overall experience, complete with more recommendations that are better connected to viewing habits. This is actually Pluto’s “most-significant update in a decade,” reports note.
The problem, however, is that Pluto TV is a FAST—Free Ad-supported Streaming Television—platform, while Paramount+ is subscription-only. Thus, users are left to wonder if Pluto TV will still be a FAST service, or if its offerings will simply be incorporated into Paramount+, with subscriptions required.
Is Paramount Stock a Good Buy Right Now?
Turning to Wall Street, analysts have a Moderate Sell consensus rating on PSKY stock based on one Buy, five Holds and four Sells assigned in the past three months, as indicated by the graphic below. After a 3.22% loss in its share price over the past year, the average PSKY price target of $11.50 per share implies 7.53% upside potential.
