A leading fund manager is increasing its exposure to the streaming market across multiple mutual funds.
After including guide Netflix Inc. NFLX for exposure, Oakmark Fund relies on another streaming platform – HBO Max Warner Bros. Discovery WBD.
Portfolio Manager of Oakmark Funds Bill Nygrenwho was upbeat on Netflix earlier this year, said CNBC: “Warner did a great job creating must-see content.”
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“We believe that a large part of Warner Bros.’s value resides in its content library, and library values have only continued to increase over time,” Nygren said.
Investors looking at the streaming market need to differentiate between short-term factors, such as how the advertising market is likely to perform over the course of the year, and the long-term factor of how desirable the products’ content is to consumers, Nygren explained.
“One way or another, we think the company will succeed in monetizing this (content),” he added, expecting HBO Max to grow and become “a very profitable business.”
Time Warner’s fortune wasn’t “very well managed” underneath. AT&T Inc T, says Nygren. After the Discovery deal, Nygren became bullish and added the stock to several Oakmark funds.
AT&T acquired Time Warner for $85 billion. The media asset was converted into WarnerMedia and spun off for $43 billion Transaction with Discovery.
Nygren cites an 8x price-to-earnings ratio, synergies from the upcoming spin-off, and the company’s direct efforts to make HBO Max “probably one of the leading streaming companies.”
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Why it matters: Warner Bros. Discovery represented 3% of the Oakmark Select Fund, which invests in mid-cap and large-cap US companies.
Netflix is the fourth-largest holding in the fund at 5.5%.
“We believe the company will return to good earnings…
