- Tegna (NYSE:TGNA) is up 3.9% after Evercore's upgraded the shares to Buy, following the company's new affiliation contract with NBC (CMCSA +2.4%).
- The firm has a $27 price target, 20% upside from current levels.
- Comcast had agreed to a renewal of all 17 Tegna NBC stations; while terms weren't disclosed, it's likely a 3-5 year deal (Tegna recently negotiated its CBS deal through 2019 and ABC contract through 2018).
- Tegna's also negotiated retransmission deals covering 57% of its subscribers (new agreements with DirecTV/AT&T and Dish Network), with the rest up at the end of the year.
- Core ad growth likely improved in the fourth quarter, Evercore's Tracy Young and Ivy Cong say, and the balance sheet should continue to improve with more debt reduction, even including $825M in buybacks over the next three years.