Morgan Stanley Says Martha Stewart Agreement Not A Game Changer For Time Inc.

Morgan Stanley commented on Time Inc TIME in a research note issued Wednesday.

Analysts led by Toni Kaplan felt the "[licensing] agreement between Meredith Corp and Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia as consistent with our view that there will continue to be consolidation in the magazine industry."

Kaplan continued, "We do not view this as a game-changer for TIME, given that the market share of the combined entity will likely still be similar to MDP standalone.”

The note concluded that “based on 2013 PIB data, we calculate that the combination of MDP with MSO would have accounted for 12 percent share of industry advertising dollars (vs. MDP standalone of 11 percent and vs. TIME of 24 percent)."

Morgan Stanley maintained an Equal-weight rating on the stock.

Time Inc recently traded at $19.60, down 1.93 percent.