The PowerShares Dynamic Media Portfolio (NYSEArca: PBS) has tumbled 7.5% over the past month after spending considerable time as consumer discretionary sector leader.
Slack earnings reports from some of the exchange traded funds marquee holdings are the primary culprit behind the fund’s recent struggles. Now, some industry analysts see additional near-term downside ahead for big-name media firms, such as Dow component Walt Disney (NYSE: DIS), CBS (NYSE: CBS) and Twenty-First Century Fox (NasdaqGS: FOXA).
“Focusing just on Diversifieds and pay-TV, we can’t help but think some level of value is transferring from content to distribution; thus, we are downgrading CBS, Twenty-First Century Fox, Disney to Market Perform and the entire Media sector to Market Weight (we also reduce our valuation ranges and adjusted ests for these three companies),” according to a Wells Fargo research note posted by Ben Levisohn of Barron’s.
Disney and CBS combine for about 10% of PBS while Twenty-First Century Fox currently is not a member of the ETF’s lineup. PBS investors are not the only ones being pinched by the recent retrenchment in media stocks. Hedge funds, among the biggest backers of media stocks in recent years, are feeling the pain of pullbacks in media stocks, such as those held by PBS.