MW CNBC's stock is in turmoil: Versant shares pummeled for the third day in a row after spinoff
By Lukas I. Alpert
The new corporate home for cable channels like CNBC, MS Now and USA Network has started off down over 25% following its separation from Comcast
The way things are going for CNBC's new corporate parent probably wouldn't pass muster with "Mad Money" host Jim Cramer.
CNBC "Mad Money" host Jim Cramer is unlikely to be shouting "Booyah!" for the stock of the financial-news channel's new corporate parent.
Shares of Versant Media Group $(VSNT)$ have fallen for the third day in a row since it began trading on Monday following its spinoff from media giant Comcast $(CMCSA)$.
In all, Versant has rapidly lost over 25% of its market value since it started trading as a standalone company comprised of what had been NBCUniversal's cable-channel division, including networks like CNBC, MS Now (formerly MSNBC), E! and USA Network.
Comcast shares have been roughly flat over the same time period.
Versant executives have said the split was intended to unlock the value of the channels and allow them to invest the proceeds from the $7 billion in revenue they generate in themselves, rather than be redirected toward Comcast's theme-park and streaming businesses.
So far, investors have proven wary, and that has weighed on the stock. Much of the trading is likely being driven by selloffs by large index funds which held big positions in Comcast, but for whom Versant does not meet their strict investment guidelines.
Executives say they expect the stock to level off in the coming days, once the portfolio adjustments subside. That has so far played out - with the stock falling 13% on its first day of trading, 10% on day two and about 6.5% in midday trading on its third day.
"It's just going to find a level over the next couple of weeks, I think, but the early days is technical turnover of the shareholder base that's getting distributed shares, you know, repositioning against their own criteria indexes they're in," Comcast co-CEO Mike Cavanaugh said on CNBC's "Squawk Box" on Wednesday.
Still, the market's reaction to Versant in its first days raises questions about the valuation of other big media spinoffs. Warner Bros. Discovery $(WBD)$ has similarly been moving to spin off its cable-channel division amid the sale of its studio and streaming businesses to Netflix $(NFLX)$.
That deal has been complicated by a hostile takeover effort by Paramount Skydance $(PSKY)$, which has offered to buy the entirety of Warner Bros. Discovery including the cable channels.
Warner Bros. Discovery's board on Wednesday formally rejected Paramount's latest offer, citing the heavy debt load that deal would entail, and also questioning the valuation Paramount was assigning to WBD's cable business.
Historically, the performance of media-stock spinoffs has relied largely on how the separations were viewed - either as splits that could stand on their own feet, or castoffs of undesirable properties.
In 2015, shares of newspaper company USA Today (TDAY) - which was then called Gannett - fell 6% on the first day of trading after the company was spun off from local-TV-station operator Tegna $(TGNA)$.
Conversely, shares of Starz Entertainment (STRZ) rose 40% on that company's first day of trading in May after it was spun off from Lionsgate Studios (LION), which fell 4.4% that same day.
-Lukas I. Alpert
This content was created by MarketWatch, which is operated by Dow Jones & Co. MarketWatch is published independently from Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
January 07, 2026 13:43 ET (18:43 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2026 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
Comments