4 Bullish Catalysts For WWE's Stock Following WrestleMania

WrestleMania 35 is less than two weeks away for World Wrestling Entertainment Inc WWE and its investors, but one Wall Street analyst said WrestleMania is just the beginning of the bullish catalysts on the horizon for WWE.

The Analyst

MKM Partners analyst Eric Handler reiterated his Buy rating and raised his price target for WWE stock from $95 to $110.

The Thesis

There are four major catalysts coming up for WWE that should propel the stock to new highs, according to Handler:

• WWE has three new international TV deals in China, the Middle East and India set to start in in the second half of 2019. Handler estimates these deals are collectively worth between $20 million and $25 million.
• Handler expects a WWE Network relaunch sometime within the next two years, including the addition of tiers. Handler is calling for a three-tiered service with a free bare-bones tier added on the lower end and a premium tier added on the higher end.
• WWE already films a third hour of content from “Smackdown” live events to use for other shows like “205 Live” and “Mixed Match Challenge.” Handler said WWE could generate an additional $50 million in annual revenue by improving the monetization of this third hour of content via a deal with Fox Sports 1 or another network.
• While WWE’s TV deals have gotten much bigger in recent years, the company’s sponsorship deals have stayed roughly the same size, Handler said. He said WWE’s sponsorship deals are relatively small compared to NASCAR and NCAA college football.

“In our view, WWE has the most financial upside potential over the next 3-5 years, relative to expectations, within our coverage universe,” Handler wrote in the note.

Price Action

WWE's stock traded higher by 1.4 percent to $88.57 per share on Tuesday.

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