Investors punished WWE big time today as stocks fell almost 50% as soon as the trading day started on Wall Street, losing over $9 from their price. At time of this writing, trading was at $10.73.
Analysts have also voiced concerns that the company’s return to profitability may happen later than expected and disappointing results of the WWE Network so far has led to a massive sell from investors.
Benchmark has downgraded the stock to hold from buy and said they estimate that NBC Universal negotiated a 50% increase on WWE’s domestic TV rights fees. “The company’s valuation could take a heavy beating this morning, as the new domestic TV deal with NBCU likely disappointed investors over limited visibility / believability on the ultimate success of the Network,” Benchmark said in a note.
