Tuesday’s after-hours session provided some noteworthy theatrics for the PowerShares Dynamic Media Portfolio (NYSEArca: PBS) that could prove impactful for the ETF today.
For starters, Rupert Murdoch’s 21st Century Fox (NasdaqGS: FOXA) pulled its $75 billion takeover offer for Time Warner (NYSE: TWX). The news sent shares of Fox surging while Time Warner, the largest holding in PBS, traded lower by as much as 11.5%.
“Time Warner management and its Board refused to engage with us to explore an offer which was highly compelling. Additionally, the reaction in our share price since our proposal was made undervalues our stock and makes the transaction unattractive to Fox shareholders. These factors, coupled with our commitment to be both disciplined in our approach to the combination and focused on delivering value for the Fox shareholders, has led us to withdraw our offer,” Murdoch in a statement.
Time Warner has a 6% weight in PBS. In addition to the 21st Century Fox/Time Warner news, Dow component Walt Disney (NYSE: DIS) reported fiscal third-quarter adjusted earnings per share of $1.28 on revenue of $12.47 billion. Analysts expected EPS of $1.16 per share on revenue of $12.16 billion.
California-based Disney is the fifth-largest holding in PBS with a weight of 4.9%. Good news for PBS: With the recent weakness in the Dow, just eight of the index’s 30 constituents are still up at least 10% this year. Disney is one of those stocks.