By Angela Palumbo
Comcast stock was rising Monday after a BofA Securities analyst upgraded shares of the entertainment company, citing confidence in its future after the completion of the Versant Media Group spinoff.
Jessica Reif Ehrlich upgraded shares of Comcast to Buy from Neutral and raised her price target to $37 from $31, which implies a 30% increase from the stock's most recent closing price of $28.37. Ehrlich wrote in a research note on Monday that Comcast's business looks attractive following the recent split from its cable channels.
"Investors must stop viewing this segment through the lens of a legacy cable network programmer and start valuing it as a scarce, top-tier content creator that can help continue to drive a direct-to-consumer (DTC) platform, provide healthy licensing revenue as a content arms dealer, while also supporting its Theme Parks operations with fresh IP [intellectual property]," Ehrlich wrote.
Shares of Comcast were rising 3.1% to $29.28 on Monday.
Legacy media and entertainment companies have been grappling with different ways to compete with modern streaming services as people change their TV viewing habits. Streaming overtook traditional TV -- cable and broadcast -- in total usage for the first time ever in May, according to research firm Nielsen. Comcast officially spun off most of its cable channels into a separate, publicly traded company called Versant earlier this month.
Ehrlich wrote that Comcast's separation from struggling linear TV puts its other assets in the spotlight. Universal Pictures, NBC Sports, Peacock, and theme park assets should now be on investor's radars, she said.
"Comcast's media assets are significantly undervalued by public markets, " Ehrlich wrote.
Ehrlich highlighted Peacock, Comcast's streaming service, as a major opportunity for the company's growth. She said that Peacock is approaching profitability and is no longer losing billions of dollars.
"With the linear networks spun out, Peacock becomes the primary long-term monetization vehicle for its content, alongside NBC broadcast and its long-term deals with the NFL, NBA and the Olympics," Ehrlich said.
Write to Angela Palumbo at angela.palumbo@dowjones.com
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(END) Dow Jones Newswires
January 12, 2026 13:51 ET (18:51 GMT)
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