Guggenheim Raises WWE Price Target Ahead Of India Deal

World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. WWE investors are hoping to end a huge year on a high note, and one Wall Street analyst said Wednesday the WWE train is moving full steam ahead heading into 2019.

The Analyst

Guggenheim analyst Curry Baker reiterated his Buy rating for WWE and raised his price target from $100 to $105.

The Thesis

The bullish outlook for WWE in the near term is all about the booming India market, where WWE is set to renew its content contract in the first half of 2019.

“We are raising our outlook for WWE’s renewal in India from an AAV of $85mm to a $124mm AAV as India’s competitive, growing media ecosystem appears poised to deliver a win for WWE and its shareholders,” Baker wrote in a note.

Baker expects the new India contract to be worth about five times the value of the current deal, a premium that would represent even a larger step-up in value than the new U.S. deals signed this year, which were 3.6 times the value of the previous deals.

WWE's stock has cooled off in recent months after tripling in value earlier this year, but Baker said the current setup looks extremely similar ahead of the India renewal as it did ahead of the U.S. renewals that drove the stock to new all-time highs.

Guggenheim raised its 2020 and 2021 OIBDA projections from $500 million and $560 million to $530 million and $580 million, respectively.

Price Action

WWE shares traded higher by 3 percent Wednesday morning to $67.19 and are now up 122.2 percent year-to-date.

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