12:55 PM EST, 03/08/2024 (MT Newswires) -- CFRA, an independent research provider, has provided MT Newswires with the following research alert. Analysts at CFRA have summarized their opinion as follows:

We think WMG will be a relative underperformer to direct peers in 2024. Since the end of last May, share price is +42%, which raises fundamental expectations for higher growth of only single digits. We lower our target by $5 to $36 on a forward TEV/EBITDA of 15.1x, still above the peer average at 14.8x including leading companies, Universal Music Group N.V. (UMG NA EUR27 ****) and Live Nation Entertainment Inc. (LYV 99 *****). We cut our 2024 EPS view by $0.20 to $1.20 and 2025's by $0.10 to $1.50; our revenue forecast is down to $6.5B in 2024 (prior $6.6B) and to $6.8B in 2025 (prior $6.9B). Compared to Sony Music Publishing and UMG, each with market share in the mid-20% range, WMG has a low-teens share of a highly competitive market. As a music wholesaler of artists releases, we think WMG is finding distribution via TikTok and other social media channels as challenging. Also, WMG is closely held, as 72.3% is owned by Access Industries, and is highly leveraged with a 87.5% total debt to total capital ratio.