- "We don't believe the speculation," says Wells Fargo's Marci Ryvicker. "Another day, another unsubstantiated article on the potential sale of Time Warner (NYSE:TWX)."
- Her note today cast doubt on the rampant (and Murdoch-fed?) rumors of a sale or a breakup of the media giant possibly forced by Carl Icahn, chatter that may be driving the stock's YTD gains of 9.7%.
- "We don't think there is any truth to this. We have been asked for our sum-of-the-parts for TWX but honestly, it's just math -– it doesn't really matter."
- HBO's not likely headed for a spinoff, and it's hard to figure out who might buy Time Warner, she says. Amazon and Apple probably don't want all of the company, and CBS isn't likely to buy a firm 2.5 times its size; "Twenty-First Century Fox (FOX -0.7%, FOXA -0.5%) keeps coming up in the press, but we don't see how FOXA uses its current equity as currency."
- Meanwhile, Lachlan Murdoch has said (briefly) that Fox wasn't in the mix; and Guggenheim has reiterated its Buy rating on TWX.
- Previously: Time Warner gains again; report has Bewkes downplaying HBO spinoff idea (Jan. 12 2016)
- Previously: Icahn denies owning any Time Warner, blames speculators' rumors (Jan. 12 2016)