Paramount Global Stock Spikes After Warren Buffett Discloses Stake

(Image credit: ViacomCBS)

Paramount Global shares rose more than 15% each on Tuesday after Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway disclosed that it purchased about 68.9 million shares of the programmer in the first quarter.

Paramount Global shares were trading as high as $32.32 each on Tuesday morning, up 15.2% or $4.30 each. The stock was priced at $31.97 each at 11:45 a.m. on May 17, up 14% or $3.95 per share.

Berkshire Hathaway disclosed the Paramount Global stake as part of the fund’s quarterly 13F-HR filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

While there was no reason given for the purchase, Buffett is known as a value investor and Paramount’s shares were down about 6.5% between December 31 and May 16. The company, which changed its name from ViacomCBS in February, beat analysts’ Q1 expectations, adding about 6.8 million new subscribers in the period in its Paramount Plus streaming service. ■

Mike Farrell is senior content producer, finance for Multichannel News/B+C, covering finance, operations and M&A at cable operators and networks across the industry. He joined Multichannel News in September 1998 and has written about major deals and top players in the business ever since. He also writes the On The Money blog, offering deeper dives into a wide variety of topics including, retransmission consent, regional sports networks,and streaming video. In 2015 he won the Jesse H. Neal Award for Best Profile, an in-depth look at the Syfy Network’s Sharknado franchise and its impact on the industry.

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