When entertainment giant Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) lost most of its rights to the NBA, some began to wonder what this would mean for Warner’s sports stances. Well, as we discovered, it meant something rather interesting: a greater focus on less-considered sports. And while the inevitable joking comparisons to “ESPN 8: The Ocho” came up, the idea still stuck. And now, Warner’s connection to All Elite Wrestling is getting a boost from streaming as well. Investors were fine with this, sending shares up fractionally in the closing minutes of Wednesday’s trading.
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Warner recently renewed its five-year contract with All Elite Wrestling (AEW), though added a new wrinkle: some of the AEW content would make its way to the Max platform, streaming live. While TNT and TBS, Warner’s linear channels, would still show AEW content—particularly AEW Collision and AEW Dynamite—Max would also get access to those events starting in January.
Further, AEW content would start being available on Max, and the live pay-per-view events would also come to Max, available at a discount over normal pay-per-view pricing. Interestingly, this is not the first time that media companies have gone after “combat sports” to help bolster interest. Disney’s (DIS) ESPN has Ultimate Fighting Championship action, and it is far from alone.
Putting It Together
Better yet, Warner has a new game coming up that will deliver on a property that has supporters in multiple directions. The game is LEGO Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight. Sadly, the game will not be available until 2026, but when it is, it will be available for PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X and S, and the Switch 2.
President and CEO of streaming and games at Warner Bros. Discovery, JB Perrette, noted, “Our remarkable team at TT Games is working hard to deliver a fresh take on the beloved Batman universe, offering new and improved features beyond previous LEGO games that will excite both longtime fans and gamers of all levels.” Bringing together LEGO and Batman has worked well for Warner in the past, and there is little reason to believe lightning will not strike again here.
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 50.52% rally in its share price over the past year, the average WBD price target of $13.68 per share implies 18.29% upside potential.
