We recently published a list of 10 Advertising & Media Stocks That Could Tank If Recession Hits. In this article, we are going to take a look at where Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBD) stands against other advertising & media stocks that could tank if recession hits.

When recession strikes, the advertising and media sectors are the first ones to see a noticeable impact. Companies tend to reduce their advertising budgets when the going gets tough. As a result, media companies that rely heavily on advertising spending fail to hit their revenue targets. So, if investors want to look at red flags for recession, advertising and media stocks offer good insights.

While media companies across the board feel the heat of reduced advertising budgets, some companies tend to fare better. These are mostly the ones that have diversified their income streams to reduce reliance on advertising.

In this post, we look at stocks that are likely to struggle if ad spending goes down. To come up with our list of top 10 advertising and media stocks that could tank if recession hits, we only looked at stocks that had a market cap of at least $5 billion.Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. (WBD): Among Advertising & Media Stocks That Could Tank If Recession Hits

A movie theater auditorium filled with an audience enjoying a blockbuster film.

Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBD)

Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBD) is an entertainment and media company. The company operates in DTC, Studios, and Network segments. It also offers content through various distribution platforms, including authenticated GO applications, linear network, direct-to-consumer subscription products, and others.

Warner Bros. Discovery (NASDAQ:WBD) has had a good year as a business, even if the stock has offered mixed returns. The company now has a 6.7% TV and streaming market share, one that is likely to grow moving forward.

The problems that the company faces are slightly different, though. It has $9.64 billion worth of debt maturing over the next three years. The management has already cautioned investors to have muted expectations. If a recession hits, the deleveraging process could get even slower.

The management has also hinted that it will take time to arrest the decline in advertising revenue, another factor that a recession will delay. Warner Bros. Discovery (NASDAQ:WBD), therefore, is a stock that could take a bad hit from a recession.

Overall, WBD ranks 2nd on our list of advertising & media stocks that could tank if recession hits. While we acknowledge the potential of WBD as an investment, our conviction lies in the belief that some AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns, and doing so within a shorter time frame. There is an AI stock that went up since the beginning of 2025, while popular AI stocks lost around 25%. If you are looking for an AI stock that is more promising than WBD but that trades at less than 5 times its earnings, check out our report about this cheapest AI stock.

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Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.

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