It has been just under a week now since we heard about Comcast’s (CMCSA) plans to spin off its cable channels and put them into their own division, known currently—though maybe not for long—as SpinCo. But there has already been some outside interest expressed in the notion of buying those channels from none other than Tesla (TSLA) CEO Elon Musk. The news left Comcast shares down nearly 1.5% in Tuesday afternoon’s trading.
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The whole thing started during an exchange on Musk’s social media platform, X—formerly Twitter—when Donald Trump Jr. suggested an idea to Musk, pointing out that Comcast was spinning off MSNBC, along with several other channels, into their own division. Musk took the ball and ran with it over the goal line, out of the stadium, and down to the coffee shop a block away, responding, “How much does it cost?”
The exchange caught a lot of attention, as large portions of the internet wondered if some of the biggest names in liberal television—Rachel Maddow, Mika Brzezinski, and Joe Scarborough in particular—were on borrowed time under a new boss. However, there is one wrinkle in that plan – the Comcast networks are not technically for sale. But Elon has yet to make a formal offer, either, so for the right price, who knows?
Distressed Properties
And the right price may be less than expected. It is no secret that linear television is in open decline. Just look at the last earnings reports from Warner Bros Discovery (WBD), Paramount (PARA), and even Comcast itself. Anyone with a presence in regular television is taking a beating at the hands of streaming platforms.
For the Comcast channels, the news is actually worse than that. The Gateway Pundit recently revealed that MSNBC—one of the brands to be spun off from Comcast—was recently beaten in the ratings by, brace yourself, The Hallmark Channel.
More people apparently wanted to watch Holiday Touchdown: A Chiefs Love Story than the latest in economic news. In fact, the report noted, Hallmark Channel came in third among all cable networks in the week of November 11 to November 17, losing only to ESPN and Fox News.
Is Comcast Stock a Good Buy Right Now?
Turning to Wall Street, analysts have a Moderate Buy consensus rating on CMCSA stock based on 12 Buys and eight Holds assigned in the past three months, as indicated by the graphic below. After a 4.26% rally in its share price over the past year, the average CMCSA price target of $49.47 per share implies 16.13% upside potential.
