Any Viacom Turnaround Unlikely to Be Soon, Wells Fargo's Ryvicker Says

Viacom "has fallen too far too fast" to be successfully turned around, at least in the next 12 months, Wells Fargo analyst Marci Ryvicker said in a note to investors Monday as the bank downgraded the cable programmer's Class B shares to "underperform" from "market perform." Previewing Q2 earnings, Ryvicker said CBS and Time Warner Cable are the "most stable/least risky." For Viacom, Wells Fargo said the problems include negotiating subscription VOD contracts (see 1606170013) and Comcast putting Viacom's Spike channel on a lower tier. That Viacom B is trading above CBS, Comcast and 21st Century Fox A shares "just doesn't make sense to us," Ryvicker wrote. Viacom B closed Monday at $44.36, down 1.9 percent. Viacom didn't comment.