Roku and Disney Stocks Inch Up While Most of Entertainment and Media Follow Broader Market Decline

Entertainment and media stocks mainly declined with the broader markets after the opening bell on Thursday, but some names defied the downward trend.

Roku shares added $1.28, or 2.1%, to $60.98, in morning trading, as the video streaming platform bounced back from a down day on Wednesday. The stock has regained most of a drop it saw last month, but remains at a fraction of the $350.60 peak it reached a year ago.

The positive move defied the broader markets, which were all trending down after starting with modest gains. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.68% to 30.066.56. The S&P 500 was off 0.65% to 3,758.52. The Nasdaq Composite was down 0.68% to 11,078.53. Ongoing concerns about the job market and the potential for another big interest rate hike by the Federal Reserve next month are weighing on stocks.

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Disney shares slipped into the red briefly before returning to positive territory. They were trading up 27 cents to $101.07, off more than 40% in the past year. Disney saw positive results from “Andor,” which made it into the top three most in-demand new releases last week.

Netflix shares, meanwhile, dropped for the second straight day, losing $2.25, to $234.68, despite it’s latest hit, “Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story,” landing at No. 2 last week. The stock is struggling in recent days as consumers get weary of repeated price hikes for the streaming service.

Sony Group shares edged up 27 cents to $67.79. The studio is hoping for better reception of “Lyle Lyle Crocodile” from audiences than it got from critics.

Warner Brothers Discovery, which scored big with “‘House of the Dragon,” logged gains at the opening but reversed course, slipping 10 cents to $12.12.

The biggest changes were recorded by stocks popular with short sellers, or those making bets that share prices will fall. Lionsgate Entertainment declined 15 cents, or 2.1%, to $7.20. Meanwhile AMC Entertainment added 23 cents, or 3.2%, to $7.56.

Cinemark Holdings, meanwhile, slumped 37 cents, or 3%, to $11.96,reversing some of the gains it notched on Wednesday. The theater chain’s shares remained well off the 52-week high of $23.15.

Nexstar Media Group, which closed its deal to acquire a majority stake in The CW earlier this week, bobbled before settling in down 75 cents at $177.63. It’s still off the top of its 52-week trading range of $204.62, reached in August.

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