15. Madison Square Garden Sports Corp. (NYSE:MSGS)
Madison Square Garden Sports Corp. (NYSE:MSGS) was among the stocks Jim Cramer discussed as he said that the Iran peace negotiations could trigger an oil glut, cool inflation, and pull interest rates down. Cramer explained why he would buy the stock, as he stated:
First, though, let’s answer the obvious question. Should we even consider the Knicks’ Championship run a positive catalyst for the stock?… At the end of the day, the stock market’s inherently forward-looking. The Knicks winning the championship is already priced into the stock… So that’s not the reason why I’d buy MSG Sports… Now, I’d buy MSG for one simple reason. The marketing capitalization of this company is currently worth less than the sum of the parts…
Right now, the company’s worth $8.9 billion, and it’s got a little bit more than a billion dollars in net debt, so let’s call it an enterprise value of a little below $10 billion… You got two major teams that together are worth just under $14 billion, along with a pair of smaller minor league teams. Now, in the end, I think that the sum of the parts valuation is too good to ignore. You’re basically getting the Rangers for free… While I think this network’s estimates for the valuation of the Knicks and the Rangers are legit, that’s what these franchises might be worth in a sale. MSG Sports currently makes very little in the way of profits, though.
Their 2026 fiscal year ends this month, and the company’s on track to bring in just $16.6 million in earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization, according to current consensus estimates. That’s not so great. So, based on traditional price-to-earnings type valuation metrics, this stock is far from cheap. Really, what you’re betting on is that MSG Sports is that the underlying teams will continue to rise in value. But with those disclaimers out of the way, I gotta tell you, I like MSG Sports here, especially after the stock’s pulled back pretty hard this week and with the potential catalyst of a breakup play.
So here’s the bottom line: This is a pretty exciting darn story. At the end of the day, the company that owns the Knicks and the Rangers has a stock that trades like it only owns the Knicks. After years of being underestimated, MSG Sports is finally thinking about spinning off the Rangers business to give you a basketball stock and a separate hockey stock. I bet that sends this thing higher.
Madison Square Garden Sports Corp. (NYSE:MSGS) is a professional sports company that owns the New York Knicks and the New York Rangers. The firm also runs development league teams and a sports team performance center.
