Paramount Global (PARA): Among Advertising & Media Stocks That Could Tank If Recession Hits

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 Paramount Global (NASDAQ:PARA) 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.

Viewers at home watching a top-rated show on the CBS Television Network.

Paramount Global (NASDAQ:PARA)

Paramount Global (NASDAQ:PARA) is a streaming, entertainment, and media company. The company operates in Filmed Entertainment, TV Media, and Direct-to-Consumer segments. A recession is likely to hinder one of the best business turnarounds in recent media history.

Paramount Global (NASDAQ:PARA) found itself at a crucial juncture: wait for traditional media to die or transition quickly to a streaming service provider. With high debt, the company could not just muscle its way to a successful streaming platform. Against the odds, it slowly improved its Paramount+ and Pluto offerings and is expected to turn these into a profitable part of the business this fiscal year.

In the last quarter of 2024, Paramount Global (NASDAQ:PARA) gained an additional 5.6 million subscribers for Paramount+. The watch time for Pluto TV also grew by 8%. The media firm is setting itself up to monetize this growing subscriber base, but if ad spending takes a turn for the worse, the turnaround will have to wait a little longer.

Overall, PARA ranks 4th on our list of advertising & media stocks that could tank if recession hits. While we acknowledge the potential of PARA 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 PARA but that trades at less than 5 times its earnings, check out our report about this cheapest AI stock.

READ NEXT: 20 Best AI Stocks To Buy Now and 30 Best Stocks to Buy Now According to Billionaires.

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