BTIG's Greenfield: Comcast Buying DreamWorks Is A 'Mistake'

Comcast Corporation (NASDAQ: CMCSA) has agreed to purchase Dreamworks Animation Skg Inc (NASDAQ: DWA) for $3.8 billion. BTIG’s Richard Greenfield termed the purchase a “mistake.”

While $3 billion in cash is relatively meaningless for Comcast, it reflects the company’s lack of financial discipline and should be a cause for investor concern, analyst Richard Greenfield commented.

Related Link: Comcast's NBCUniversal Confirms $3.8 Billion Buyout Of Dreamworks

Why The Deal Is A Mistake

Greenfield highlighted various reasons for the potential deal not being the best decision for Comcast:

• DreamWorks’ shares appear overvalued. The company’s core movie business continues to struggle, while the television business is “meaningfully overearning.” The deal with Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ: NFLX) would limit Comcast’s ability to leverage DreamWorks’ content into a direct video business.
• Even if DreamWorks is able to exit the Netflix deal early or create additional products for Comcast, the quality of the television content has not been compelling so far.
• The company’s track record in making successful animated movies is underwhelming.
• The performance of DreamWorks’ movies has largely been driven by heavy spending on voice talent and promotions.
• Comcast already owns a superior animation studio and should look to invest in it. “Comcast should inject meaningful capital into Illumination with a far more compelling ROI than overpaying for DWA,” Greenfield wrote.

The $3 billion acquisition price overvalues DreamWorks’ Awesomeness TV.

The analyst commented that buying DreamWorks would not transform NBC Universal into Walt Disney Co (NYSE: DIS).

Image credit: Kim Stovring, Flickr