Inflation Fears, Crude Oil Slide Send Stocks Slipping

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JACKSON, WYO. — Across Thursday, a group of local radio stations in Jackson Hole led their newscasts by trumpeting how gas prices were rapidly escalating, putting a tinge of fear in the report.


It appears such fretting may be premature. Crude oil prices plunged 8%, with European demand now less than anticipated. This, coupled with inflation concerns and the news that another 770,000 Americans filed new unemployment claims for the week ending March 13 sent U.S. financial markets downward.

Several publicly traded media companies were swept up in the tide.

Among the bigger dips was that seen by iHeartMedia, the audio media giant that is poised to benefit from the pending acquisition of a significant non-voting stake in the company by Global, the parent of several leading U.K. radio brands.

At the closing bell, IHRT was down 6%, with downward activity accelerating after the noon hour, Eastern time.

Also down significantly: Saga Communications, which continues to suffer from pandemic-related revenue dips across its radio stations. SGA finished Thursday’s trading at $25.12, down 6.7% from Wednesday.

On the TV side, Sinclair Broadcast Group gave up 5.4% of its value to finish the day at $35.89.