The promise of Warner Bros. Discovery Inc. (NASDAQ: WBD) is that it would be a huge collection of media assets run by David Zaslav. The new company combines the media assets of AT&T and those of Discovery. Instead, the marriage has been a huge disappointment. Warner Bros. Discovery\u2019s stock has collapsed, and there is a worry that the promise has passed.<\/p>\n
Warner Bros. Discovery said in a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission that it could have write-downs of as much as $4.3 billion. According to The Wall Street Journal, $2.0 billion to $2.5 billion will be \u201cwriting down the value of some content and killing off projects that were in development.\u201d Zaslav has found that the deal is not as clean and easy as he expected. His reputation is on the line.<\/p>\n
Zaslav\u2019s other problem is that Warner Bros. Discovery has a debt load of over $50 billion. Cuts may bring down expenses, but revenue will still need to jump quickly and at an accelerated pace.<\/p>\n
Warner Bros. Discovery\u2019s stock trades at $13, very near its 52-week low. The 52-week high is $31.55. So far this year, the shares have dropped 44%. Even battered Disney\u2019s stock has not fallen that much. Nor have the shares of Paramount, a company often viewed as too small to compete against media giants.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t