After Disney (DIS) and Comcast (CMCSA) announced a new agreement regarding their Hulu joint venture, Morgan Stanley analyst Benjamin Swinburne said the new pact is indicative of the priorities of both companies. Operational control of Hulu give Disney a chance to bundle the service with Disney Plus and/or ESPN Plus, allows for international expansion and likely creates some cost synergies, said Swinburne, who added that Disney will have "a high class problem" if it turns out if Hulu is appraised at a higher value when it comes time to buy out Comcast. For Comcast, the new deal gives it downside protection and content flexibility as it builds out its own streaming plans, the analyst added. He keeps Overweight ratings on both Disney and Comcast, concluding that the deal between the media giants will accelerate the transition from legacy TV to streaming.

Pivotal Research analyst Jeffrey Wlodarczak lowered the firm's price target on Comcast (CMCSA) to $48 from $55 and keeps a Buy rating on the shares. Comcast reported an-line Q1 results but the competitive environment appears to be intensifying, the analyst tells investors in a research note. The firm believes there is an "outside shot" that Comcast could make a play for Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) "given it can probably get the asset relatively inexpensively and it would clearly boost their scale in content," says Pivotal.

Check out this morning's top movers from around Wall Street, compiled by The Fly.  UP AFTER EARNINGS... To see the rest of the story go to thefly.com. See Story Here

Notable companies reporting before tomorrow's open, with earnings consensus, include Merck (MRK), consensus $1.87... Caterpillar (CAT), consensus $5.14... Comcast (CMSCA), consensus 99c... Honeywell (HON), consensus $2.17... Bristol-Myers (BMY), consensus ($4.44)... Altria (MO), consensus $1.15... Keurig Dr. Pepper (KDP), consensus 35c... GE Vernova (GEV), consensus (37c)... Royal Caribbean (RCL), consensus $1.33... Tractor Supply (TSCO), consensus $1.72... Mobileye (MBLY), consensus (6c)... Textron (TXT), consensus $1.23... LabCorp (LH), consensus $3.48... Southwest Airlines (LUV), consensus (34c)... American Airlines (AAL), consensus (29c)... Harley-Davidson (HOG), consensus $1.51.

Comcast (CMCSA) is scheduled to announce quarterly results on April 25, while Paramount (PARA) and Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) are... To see the rest of the story go to thefly.com. See Story Here