On August 19, Nielsen Holdings plc shares nearly slid to $20. Today, they are trading in the low-$21 range.
That’s a big difference from where Nielsen stock stood some three years ago.
As of 2pm Eastern, NLSN was trading at $21.19, off 16 cents from Friday’s close.
With a 1-year target estimate of $27.44, NLSN has been an underperformer since mid- March, when the company’s shares appeared to be on track to hitting that Wall Street year-end goal.
Instead, Nielsen stock — mired in a strategic review of its assets — has largely been in decline since a $26.50 finish on April 9.
Bad press doesn’t help.
According to Deadline, “network sources” late Friday afternoon insisted that they had not received TV ratings information they had expected from Nielsen. However, the company says it delivered what was promised on its inaugural day of expanded measurements.
“All PPM market data was delivered to clients today,” a Nielsen spokesperson told Deadline on October 4. “Data for Atlanta was delivered at 7pm Eastern due to a telecommunication issue. The rest of the PPM market data was delivered at 3pm Eastern, on schedule. Set meter + RPD market data will be delivered to clients tomorrow and code reader + RPD data will be delivered Sunday.”
Prior to the Nielsen comments, Deadline offered comments from an unnamed “sports network corner-office holder” slamming the nation’s dominant audience measurement firm for a rollout that was “botched from the beginning, with little consultation and little consideration to a softer transition.”
