Since abruptly firing ratings king Tucker Carlson in April, Fox News has been floundering, and the negative effects are becoming worse.
According to Yahoo Finance, Wells Fargo analyst Steven Cahall cut his price target and downgraded Fox Corp. stock on Monday, citing declining cable news viewership as a major factor in Carlson’s departure.
“Wells Fargo analysts downgraded shares of Fox Corporation (NASDAQ:FOXA) to ‘Underweight’ from ‘Equal Weight’ on Monday,” Investing.com reported.
When a stock is downgraded, experts are less optimistic about its potential to deliver investment returns that outperform the market.
When analysts “underweight” a company, they are implying that because it is projected to do worse than other companies in its industry, it has become a less appealing investment option.
In a note to clients explaining the downgrade, Cahall wrote:
“Fox’s earnings are mostly Fox News earnings, and Fox News is facing viewership and share pressures. With ecosystem risks also elevated, we find our estimate outlook more negative and below the Street.”
Fox News viewership decreased 19% from January to June compared to the same time two years prior, according to Cahall, who also dropped his price objective on Fox Corp. stock from $35 a share to $31.
Fox Corp. stock after the news of Tucker Carlson's sudden departure: pic.twitter.com/yTJI6S4jHa
— Alex Salvi (@alexsalvinews) April 24, 2023
The Wells Fargo analyst attributed the negative trend to declining TV ratings and cord-cutting.
“Fox News was 52% of cable news primetime viewership for 2020-22, 51% in Jan’23, and that has slid to a low of 38% in June ’23 post-Tucker Carlson,” Cahall wrote. “Fox News’ share of conservative news viewers has fallen from 94% to 84%.”
All of this is not unexpected considering that Carlson’s program served as the foundation for Fox’s cable news hegemony for many years.
His cable show has a nightly average audience of 3.03 million in 2022. Ratings for his formerly popular 8 o’clock time slot fell by 56 percent after he was sacked.
As the network struggles to regain viewers, Carlson’s previous primetime slot on Fox News continues to draw low viewing.
Cable News Rankings Thu Jun 29
1⃣@TheFive @DanaPerino @JesseBWatters @GregGutfeld @JudgeJeanine @HaroldFordJr
2⃣@SeanHannity
3⃣@JessePrimetime
4⃣@IngrahamAngle
5⃣@GutfeldFox!
6⃣@NicolleDWallace
7⃣@GillianHTurner*
8⃣9⃣@AmericaNewsroom @DanaPerino @BillMelugin_*
🔟@OutnumberedFNC pic.twitter.com/ZJOgMV53ku— RoadMN 📈 (@RoadMN) June 30, 2023
Fox News was mocked on Twitter for its well-deserved downfall.
More good news: Wall Street analysts have downgraded Fox Corporation stock (the parent company of Fox News) to “underweight” — meaning you should sell it.
— Emerald Robinson ✝️ (@EmeraldRobinson) July 11, 2023
Fox News dropped from 52% to 38% since Tucker left causing Wells Fargo to downgrade their stock. 😊https://t.co/mZN0pbzbtZ
— Americans#1st 🙏 🇺🇸✝️ 🇮🇱 (@djtmaga2017) July 11, 2023
Wonder how Fox News investors feel since their stock was downgraded? 😂😂😂
— #saveAmerica (@collie_3) July 10, 2023
Many longstanding Fox News fans have now abandoned the formerly successful network. And it appears unlikely that this trend will be reversed in the near future.
Carlson, on the other hand, appears to have a strong chance of making a comeback.
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