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MediaPost, TVWeek

CBS Stock Reacts to Moonves Ouster; Company Could Be Takeover Target

Sep 10, 2018  •  Post A Comment

Stock prices in CBS Corp. had a bumpy ride Monday following the news Sunday of the ouster of company President, Chairman and CEO Leslie Moonves. As we reported previously, Moonves stepped down amid mounting allegations of sexual misconduct.

“After a steep CBS stock slide on Monday … the media company’s stock recovered somewhat at the end of the business day,” MediaPost reports. “At its low, CBS stock dropped nearly 4% midday.”

At the same time that the Moonves exit was being absorbed, CBS announced it was settling its legal dispute with majority shareholder National Amusements.

“CBS also recovered somewhat when Mario Gabelli, chairman/CEO of Gabelli Funds, said on CNBC that now is the time to buy CBS stock. CBS’ stock trimmed its losses at the stock market close, losing 1.5% to $55.20,” MediaPost reports. “Year-to-date, CBS stock is down 6.4% and, year-over-year, it has fallen 7.1%.”

The report cites CNBC media analyst Barton Crockett saying CBS might be a target for acquisition.

Crockett wrote in a note: “In our view, AT&T could double down on [Time Warner] and pursue CBS (as a good fit for Time Warner that would pair broadcast and cable news). Verizon could reconsider CBS as a way to deepen its content presence and close a content gap with AT&T.”

Crockett also noted: “Amazon, Apple, or Google could consider CBS as a way to get deeper in sports and vault into a leadership position in production of top tier TV content.”

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