We know full well that the Harry Potter franchise has meant big money for entertainment giant Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD), so the idea that they might want to tap that well with a special event for the Boy Who Lived’s anniversary makes a certain kind of sense. That is just what happened, but investors did not share the magic here. In fact, Warner shares were down fractionally in the closing minutes of Monday’s trading.
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Warner took to the streets of London, which is not exactly far from where the Harry Potter books were set to begin with. Or at least where portions of them were set. But Warner marked the event all the same, opening up the opportunity for fans to play games, see new products, and pose for photos at key points to celebrate. The West End theater crowd even got involved, showing off costumes from Harry Potter and the Cursed Child.
A giant birthday card was available for attendees to sign, and there were even cupcakes on hand to round things out. That this turned out better than the catastrophic Wonka event from 2024 will likely surprise very few, as this event had some major corporate backing.
A Better Summer Than Expected?
While Warner celebrates one of its biggest properties, some are surveying the box office landscape and wondering if Warner may have saved itself with the Superman release. In fact, the question now seems to be if the summer box office wins that Warner has seen lately mean that the year itself is saved.
The answer to that largely rhetorical question is, well, maybe. Warner’s year has not been great so far. Several of its titles have flopped, including Alto Knights and Mickey-17. But then came Superman, and four other movies that all hit the number one slot in United States box office numbers. That is a win by any standard, thanks to movies like F1, Sinners, Final Destination Bloodlines, and of course, Minecraft. So even with a couple of flops to start things off—surely not every movie can be a hit—Warner made things up on the back end more than hard enough to make for a positive end result.
Is WBD Stock a Good Buy?
Turning to Wall Street, analysts have a Moderate Buy consensus rating on WBD stock based on 10 Buys and eight Holds assigned in the past three months, as indicated by the graphic below. After a 59.25% rally in its share price over the past year, the average WBD price target of $13.36 per share implies 4.54% upside potential.
