Wall Street Breakfast Podcast: PARA Gains On Diller Buzz

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Paramount (PARA) (PARAA) talking with potential partners to merge streaming – CNBC, report of interest from media mogul Barry Diller/IAC. (00:29) U.S. judge halts Biden administration pause on LNG export licenses. (01:44) Conn’s (CONN) may file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy – report. (02:46)

This is an abridged transcript of the podcast.

Paramount Global (NASDAQ:PARA) (NASDAQ:PARAA) is reportedly in discussions to merge Paramount+ with a partner — and Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) is again coming up as a potential match.

CNBC reported that Paramount is talking with other industry companies about such a venture, and along with WBD, those talks are said to have included Comcast (CMCSA), whose Peacock service is of a similar competitive scale to Paramount+.

A combination of Paramount+ with a service like WBD’s Max and/or Peacock would give a firmer base with which to compete with the bigger players, in Netflix (NFLX) and Disney+/Hulu/ESPN (DIS).

Paramount (PARA) (PARAA) could also partner with a tech platform.

Along with stabilizing churn, a joint venture that included co-ownership would also take some streaming losses off the larger company balance sheet.

Meanwhile, Paramount Global (NASDAQ:PARA) has reportedly caught the eye of media mogul Barry Diller and his company IAC Inc. (IAC).

According to a New York Times report late Monday, which cited people familiar with the matter, Diller is exploring a bid to take control of Paramount.

The report says IAC (IAC) has signed a non-disclosure agreement with National Amusements, Paramount’s controlling shareholder.

Premarket Paramount is up 3%.

A U.S. district judge on Monday blocked the Biden administration’s ban on approving applications to export liquefied natural gas, ordering the LNG export ban “be stayed in its entirety, effective immediately.”

A coalition of 16 Republican-led states, including Texas and Louisiana, filed suit in March, arguing the Biden administration lacked the authority to broadly deny the permits.

The administration said the pause was intended to allow the U.S. Department of Energy and other officials to review the process for analyzing economic and environmental impacts of projects seeking approval to export LNG.

The states said the pause on new approvals for LNG exports overstepped the DoE’s authority under the Natural Gas Act, which they said must show projects are inconsistent with the public interest before denying applications.

The pause has raised uncertainty on the status of LNG export projects that have yet to obtain licenses.

Conn’s (NASDAQ:CONN) may file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the coming weeks.

Sources told Bloomberg that the furniture retailer is buckling under years of losses and challenges in integrating rival W.S. Badcock which it acquired last year.

Conn’s (CONN) is down 30% premarket after shedding nearly 6% on Monday. The shares have declined 77% YTD.

The plan to file for bankruptcy is not yet finalized and could change, the report noted.

Conn’s (CONN) has struggled to rein in widening losses as customers cut back on discretionary spending amid high inflation.

The company engaged financial advisors to help with its debt and operations, and delayed filing its latest quarterly report with the SEC amid efforts to refinance its revolving credit facility.

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Catalyst watch:

Now let’s take a look at the markets as of 6 am. Ahead of the opening bell today, Dow, S&P and Nasdaq futures are in the red. Crude oil is up 0.8% at $84 per barrel. Bitcoin is down 0.4% at $62,000.

In the world markets, the FTSE 100 is down 0.3% and the DAX is down 1%.

The biggest movers for the day premarket: WideOpenWest (NYSE:WOW) is down 5% after Raymond James downgraded the cable and internet provider from Market Perform to Underperform, citing limited upside and skepticism about a higher acquisition bid than the current $4.80 offer.

On today’s economic calendar:

• 9:30 a.m. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell will participate in a policy panel before the European Central Bank Forum on Central Banking 2024.

• 10:00 AM Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey

Editor’s Note: This article covers one or more microcap stocks. Please be aware of the risks associated with these stocks.