Shares of ViacomCBS Inc. (VIAC, Financial) also experienced a sharp decline in the quarter, as COVID -19 added to the existing challenge of merger integration efforts. Cancellations in sports programming, softness in ad revenues, production delays, and a disruption in the upfront process will negatively impact near-term financial results. Nonetheless, we believe premium video content is the most valuable part of the media ecosystem. Based on our sum of the parts analysis, VIAC is currently trading -75% below our estimate of private market value. At today’s valuation, we view the risk/reward to be extremely skewed to the upside.
From John Rogers (Trades, Portfolio)' Ariel Fund first-quarter 2020 shareholder letter.
