Warner Music shares fall after analyst cut
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Shares in Warner Music Group (WMG.N) fell as much as 7.7 percent in early trading on Monday as a Wall Street analyst lowered for the company's quarterly results.
Warner, the world's fourth largest music company, has seen its shares fall more than 50 percent since the start of the year as further evidence of a wider downturn in the fortunes of the recorded music industry has come to light.
"With Warner's stock hitting fresh 52-week (indeed all-time) lows, we think a lot of this bad news is already in the stock," said Citigroup's Jason Bazinet in a note to clients on Sunday.
"And, frankly, the valuation is beginning to look interesting to us. But the rub is that we're simply afraid of trying to catch a falling knife going into Warner's quarterly results."
Citigroup, which has a "sell" rating on Warner, cut its target price to $10 from $19.
Warner, home to artists including Madonna, Red Hot Chili Peppers and Green Day, will report its fiscal third-quarter results on Tuesday.
Warner was down 48 cents in late morning trade to $10.52. Earlier in the day, the stock fell as low as $10.15.
(Reporting by Yinka Adegoke)
