Media Stocks Routed as Financial Markets Shake

Wall Street took a tumble on Thursday and media companies’ stocks fell right along with the major U.S. indices. As part of the bruising sell-off the S&P 500 slipped 3.8%, the Dow dropped 4.2%, and the Nasdaq fell 3.9%. The stock market has been on a roller coaster ride, plunging and then clawing its way back.

As losses piled up, the Walt Disney Company’s shares tumbled 3.3%, Fox’s stock fell 4.5%, CBS’s shares dropped 3.1%, Time Warner’s stock sank 2.2%, Lionsgate slid 3.2%, and Comcast’s shares closed the day down 4.9%. Viacom managed to escape the bloodletting, ending the day up more than 7%. The company was insulated by a better-than-expected quarterly earnings report and a raised financial forecast.

New media players also got whacked as the stock market dived. Netflix closed the day down 5.5%, Apple was off 2.7%, Facebook plunged 4.8%, and Amazon dropped 4.7%. Twitter, however, avoided the stampede for the exits. President Trump’s social network of choice posted its first-ever quarterly profit.

Telecoms also took a hit with AT&T falling 3.7% and Verizon sank 3.9%.

The Dow and the S&P 500 fell more than 10% from their peaks on Jan. 26 after a torrid stock market run among broader concerns about inflation and interest rates. There’s also concern that the tax reform legislation, which was initially hailed by business leaders, could add significantly to the federal debt load. That, in turn, could stress imports and exports.

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