Jim Cramer updates his media stock ranking and puts Fox over Disney

CNBC’s Jim Cramer updated his rankings of the top media stocks on Thursday, putting Fox at the top of the list, followed closely by Disney.

Five months ago, Cramer ranked Disney as best, followed by Fox. Discovery Warner Bros and then Primordial. But according to him, it is time to review this ranking because it has been a busy week in the industry.

“The proxy fight at Disney ended yesterday, with Disney rebuffing legendary activist investor Nelson Peltz’s bid for two board seats. There’s also a lot of activity with Paramount, which is engaged in complex takeover negotiations for weeks now,” he said. said. “Plus, we got Q4 results for all of them at some point and some stocks saw big moves, which is why it’s a good time to reassess.”

1. Fox: Cramer called Fox a “good, solid pick” because its shares haven’t run too much and its most recent quarter was “surprisingly resilient.” He also noted that the company would likely perform well in an election year.
2. Disney: The media giant’s shares have been climbing recently, largely because of its proxy fight, Cramer said. But he questioned whether the board’s victory would serve the company well, saying Peltz was good at “helping companies create value.”
3. Paramount: Cramer said Paramount was an “enigma.” He noted that its balance sheet was poor, but David Ellison’s Skydance Media could be in talks to acquire the company, Reuters reported. However, according to CNBC’s David Faber, Paramount would have to raise $3 million for the deal to close, which isn’t ideal for shareholders.
4. Warner Bros: Like Paramount, Warner Bros doesn’t have a good balance sheet, Cramer said, with its most recent quarter failing to meet Wall Street’s expectations. But unlike Paramount, it does not appear to be involved in merger discussions, he added.

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Disclaimer The CNBC Investing Club Charitable Trust owns shares of Disney.