Chicago, IL – July 26, 2022 – Zacks.com announces the list of stocks featured in the Analyst Blog. Every day the Zacks Equity Research analysts discuss the latest news and events impacting stocks and the financial markets. Stocks recently featured in the blog include: Charter Communications CHTR, Paramount Global PARA, Warner Bros. Discovery WBD and Rogers Communications RCI
Media companies' second-quarter 2022 results are likely to reflect increased media consumption over the Internet amid an increasing rate of cord-cutting and stiff competition from SVOD and vMVPD services.
Despite stiff competition, industry players are benefiting from the spike in the COVID-led demand for high-speed broadband. Strong demand for WiFi devices and wireless Internet has been a growth factor.
Diversified content offerings, which are original, regional, short and suitable for small screens (smartphones and tablets), improved Internet speed and penetration, and technological advancement are benefiting the industry participants. As monetization and revenues in terms of ad-spend continue to be subdued, profit protection and cash management with greater technology integration have gained strategic significance and are expected to have aided industry participants like Charter Communications, Paramount Global, Warner Bros. Discovery and Rogers Communications in driving the top line in the soon-to-be reported quarter.
Media companies have been gaining from several favorable industry trends. Media companies like Warner Bros. Discovery are investing heavily in developing original and fresh content to remain competitive. Such industry participants have been benefiting from a huge spike in digital content consumption.
The industry has been witnessing rapid evolution in alternative distribution channels for broadcast and cable programming. To adapt to the changes in the industry, companies have come up with varied content for over-the-top (OTT) services in addition to linear TV. Additionally, they have been adding OTT services to their content portfolios. The availability of streaming services on a wide range of platforms has been helping such services easily reach a global audience.
The growing preference for digital and subscription services over linear pay television has compelled media companies to alter their business models. The increasing availability of a variety of alternative packages, including skinny bundles, at a lower cost than traditional offerings, is expected to have aided subscriber growth.
Additionally, the growing demand for high-speed Internet, including broadband, is expected to have benefited the top line of industry participants like Rogers Communications and Charter. Improving Internet speed has been fueling the demand for high-quality video and the trend of binge viewing. Further, a strengthening broadband ecosystem in international markets, along with the proliferation of smart TVs, is anticipated to have driven growth.
Also, the surging work-from-home trend and online-learning practice owing to the coronavirus-induced quarantines and lockdowns have boosted Internet usage, thus supporting the industry participants.
With the existence of a number of industry players, finding the media stocks that have the potential to beat earnings estimates can be daunting. Our proprietary methodology, however, makes it fairly simple.
You could narrow down your choices by looking at stocks that have the perfect combination of two key elements: a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), 2 (Buy) or 3 (Hold) and a positive Earnings ESP. You can uncover the best stocks to buy or sell before they're reported with our Earnings ESP Filter.
Earnings ESP is our proprietary methodology for determining stocks that have maximum chances of beating estimates at their next earnings announcement. It is the percentage difference between the Most Accurate Estimate and the Zacks Consensus Estimate.
Our research shows that for stocks with this favorable mix of ingredients, the odds of an earnings surprise are as high as 70%.
Given below are four media stocks that have the favorable combination to beat on earnings this reporting cycle:
Stamford, CT-based Charter Communications is scheduled to report second-quarter 2022 results on Jul 29. The company currently has an Earnings ESP of +0.44% and a Zacks Rank #3. You can see the complete list of today's Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.
Charter Communications continues to witness a spike in Internet usage due to the pandemic-induced work-from-home and online-learning wave. Charter's expanding mobile-subscriber base has been a key catalyst. The momentum is likely to continue in the near term. Charter's broadband service has gained traction among small and medium businesses.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for earnings has moved up 0.4% to $6.91 per share over the past 30 days.
Charter Communications, Inc. price-eps-surprise | Charter Communications, Inc. Quote
Toronto, Canada-based Rogers Communications is scheduled to report second-quarter 2022 results on Jul 27. The company currently has an Earnings ESP of +0.21% and a Zacks Rank #3.
The company continues to benefit from Internet subscriber additions and the shift of Internet users to higher-usage tiers. The company's investments in the 5G spectrum and partnerships with leading real estate companies to support 5G infrastructure deployment are catalysts.
Notably, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for earnings has moved up 1.6% to 64 cents per share over the past 30 days.
Rogers Communication, Inc. price-eps-surprise | Rogers Communication, Inc. Quote
New York-based Paramount Global has an Earnings ESP of +6.82% and a Zacks Rank of 3.
The company is scheduled to report second-quarter 2022 results on Aug 4. The consensus estimate for earnings has increased 1.8% to 56 cents per share over the past 30 days.
Paramount Global has been benefiting from a spike in viewership for its streaming services, boosted by the strong adoption of Paramount+. An expanding content catalog of live sporting events and a solid portfolio of streaming services (both advertising and subscription-based offerings), including CBS All Access, Showtime OTT, Pluto TV, Noggin and BET+ are expected to boost viewership in the to-be reported quarter.
Paramount Global price-eps-surprise | Paramount Global Quote
Another New York-based company, Warner Bros. Discovery has an Earnings ESP of +772.73% and is expected to report second-quarter 2022 results soon. This Zacks Rank #3 company's expanding direct-to-consumer offerings have been driving top-line growth.
Warner Bros. Discovery is expected to benefit from solid viewership of multiple channels, including Discovery Channel, Animal Planet, Food Network, HGTV, MotorTrend, Science, TLC, ID, Oprah, Eurosport, the Cooking Channel and UKTV Lifestyle.
Expanding sports coverage based on partnerships with the likes of PGA TOUR, Tiger Woods and Olympics has been a major growth driver for the company.
Notably, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for earnings has moved up 200% to 3 cents per share over the past 30 days.
Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. price-eps-surprise | Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. Quote
Stay on top of upcoming earnings announcements with the Zacks Earnings Calendar.
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