Barclays downgraded CMCSA to "equal weight" and lowered its price target
The shares of Comcast Corporation (NASDAQ: CMCSA) are down 1.6% at $36.91, after Barclays downgraded the media company to "equal weight," and slashed its price target to $42. The analyst predicted flat growth in 2023 after highlighting dwindling subscriber count, saying cable companies are "likely past peak growth" and they "may start looking a lot more like telecom companies."
Rosenblatt Securities also slashed its price target down to $38 from $40. Meanwhile, analysts were optimistic toward Comcast stock coming into today, with 14 of the 21 in coverage sporting a "buy" or better rating, while the remaining seven carried a tepid "hold," and the equity's 12-month consensus price target of $48.42 is a 29.1% premium to current levels.
That sentiment is not echoed in the options pits, where puts are preferred. CMCSA's Schaeffer's put/call open interest ratio (SOIR) of 1.20 stands higher than 85% of readings in its annual range, which indicates short-term options traders are much more put-biased than usual.
On the charts, Comcast stock has trended lower for much of the year, driven down by its 80-day moving average. That trendline contained a brief pullback last month, and some consolidation back in April. Year-over-year, CMCSA is 35.4% lower.