Liberty Formula One shares tick lower after Morgan Stanley downgrades rating

Investing.com -- Shares in Liberty Media Formula One (NASDAQ:FWONA) edged lower on Monday after analysts at Morgan Stanley cut their rating of the motorcar event promoter, calling the company a "victim of its own success."

In a note to clients downgrading their rating of Liberty Formula One shares to "equal-weight" from "overweight," the Morgan Stanley analysts argued that the marketplace for the rights to live sports has "cooled" due to accelerated cord-cutting that has eaten into broadcasting revenues.

The analysts slashed their price target for the group to $70 from $80.

Telecoms billionaire John Malone's Liberty Media took over the commercial rights to Formula One -- one of the world's most recognizable and popular motor racing competitions -- in an $8 billion deal completed in 2017.

Liberty has since pushed to expand Formula One's visibility in the United States, a drive most recently illustrated in November, when the first-ever Las Vegas Grand Prix featured drivers hurtling down the Nevada city's iconic Strip.

In addition to Las Vegas, the F1 calendar has included races in Miami and Austin, Texas. Outside of the U.S., the sport has hit the streets of Saudi Arabia and Qatar, and is reportedly eyeing a possible return to China next year.

F1's series of races are now expected to grow to 24 next year, while audiences have expanded thanks in part to Netflix's (NASDAQ:NFLX) hit documentary "Drive to Survive".

But the Morgan Stanley analysts warned that "the result of all this success is that earnings have to some extent been optimized," adding that growth in the business is likely to "decelerate from what investors have seen in the past five years."