Investing fans, you’re not going to believe this! Although World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. (WWE) put up their best fight over the weekend, showing a DIZZYING DISPLAY OF SUPREMACY with the latest installment of Wrestlemania, they were no match for the AWESOME POWER of the MARKET. The company’s stock was taken TO THE MAT, and was down nearly 20 PERCENT in early Monday trading action.
We can't believe it! WOW.
The heel in this situation appears to be none other than resident bad boy SLOWING GROWTH. While the WWE Network put up a valiant fight, notching 667,000 subscribers in JUST FOUR MONTHS, analysts and investors were unimpressed and THREW DOWN in response.
The analysts countered with a STRING of BRUTAL pessimistic objections, saying the WWE Network was unlikely to expand much beyond its core 700,000 fans and reach the vaunted ONE MILLION SUBSCRIBER MARK.
It looked like there was NO WAY the WWE would submit to those scrawny analysts and SLOWING GROWTH. After all, the WWE is a BEAST in THE “DEMO,” or the contest to win over the most viewers between 18 and 49 years old. But success in the Demo does not always translate to success in the market, especially when ONE MILLION SUBSCRIBERS is just the BREAK-EVEN POINT for the unbundled pay-streaming network.
The stage was set: MARKET versus FLEDGING NETWORK. WHO WOULD WIN?!?!?
The action geared up this weekend, with the WWE throwing out the 30th installment of the vaunted WRESTLEMANIA franchise. They even threw in a big surprise, with the previously undefeated Undertaker LOSING BIG. However, their heroic efforts were simply no match for the BONE-CRUSHING REALITY of SLOWING GROWTH.
The tag-team of a sell-off and analyst pessimism DESTROYED the WWE. By midday on Monday shares were down 19.74 PERCENT to hit $22.49 apiece. Despite a heroic 2013 that saw the stock gain an UNBELIVABLE 75 percent, it seems for the time being that WWE is DOWN FOR THE COUNT.
Will they recover? Is there any hope for this last bastion of populist theater? Have we seen the last of WWE, or will SLOWING GROWTH remain victorious?
Stay tuned to THE MARKET to find out!!
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