MSG Sports price target lowered to $215 from $235 at Morgan Stanley

Morgan Stanley analyst Benjamin Swinburne lowered the firm’s price target on MSG Sports (MSGS) to $215 from $235 and keeps an Equal Weight rating on the shares. While the announced reduction in local media rights is “less severe than our previous assumption,” the firm did not anticipate the six season reduction in term and adds that the Knicks and Rangers will again face a potential local media rights reset lower in 2029. The 28% and 18% reduction in media rights revenues accepted by the Knicks and Rangers, respectively, was “a necessary concession and arguably in the best interests of the teams,” adds the analyst, who had assumed in prior estimates that the teams would take a 50% haircut to their annual average value, but with the term remaining through the 2034-35 seasons.