So while media giant Paramount (PARA) has been staging multiple rounds of layoffs ahead of what it hopes will be a merger with Skydance, it also seems to be losing some of its employees due to outright attrition. Yet the news failed to dampen investors’ spirits, and shares ticked up modestly in the closing minutes of Wednesday’s trading.
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The first loss came from CBS News, where its president, Adrienne Roark, planned to pull out. Roark had been president of Paramount Global’s news division since August, and plans to pull up stakes to take a role at Tegna (TGNA), a group of television stations, at the end of the month.
Roark joins a long line of Paramount executives moving on from positions at Paramount. Roark took over the position, reports note, from Ingrid Ciprian-Matthews, who was herself just the latest in a string of people to take the job before leaving within a couple years. Perhaps most interestingly, Roark does not have a replacement in mind yet, instead planning to “sit with this news” for a while. With a potential merger afoot, a new president of the news division might prove a moot point anyway.
Disney Poaching
Meanwhile, in perhaps the unkindest cut, one of Paramount’s major rivals, Disney (DIS) got hold of Daria Cercek, formerly co-president of the Motion Picture Group at Paramount. Now, Cercek will serve as president of Disney Live Action – Theatrical, according to the latest reports. Cercek will report to president of Disney Live Action and 20th Century Studios, David Greenbaum.
Disney representatives note that Cercek will be “…spearheading all aspects of Disney Live Action’s theatrical slate,” which will apparently range from more remakes to the occasional bit of original content. Cercek previously handled such properties as Smile 2, Sonic the Hedgehog 3, Gladiator II, and elements of the Scream and Mission: Impossible franchises, making her a fairly substantial loss for Paramount.
Is Paramount Stock a Good Buy Right Now?
Turning to Wall Street, analysts have a Hold consensus rating on PARA stock based on two Buys, one Hold and three Sells assigned in the past three months, as indicated by the graphic below. After a 2.3% loss in its share price over the past year, the average PARA price target of $12 per share implies 4.8% upside potential.
