Media Stocks Underperform Sinking Indexes

Stocks took a beating for the second straight day and are down significantly for the month, with many media stocks underperforming broader indexes.

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The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 391.01, or 3.5 percent Thursday and is off 7.6 percent in September.

Among media conglomerates, only Comcast has outperformed the Dow during September. While the stock sunk 3.8 percent Thursday, it’s only off 2.3 percent for the month.

The worst performer in September thus far among the entertainment conglomerates is CBS, which fell 7.2 percent on Thursday and is down 15.4 percent on the month.

Sony comes next, losing 2.7 percent Thursday and off 14.9 percent in September.

Disney shares lost 5.5 percent Thursday and are down 13.2 percent in September; Viacom shares lost 6.2 percent Thursday and are down 11.9 percent for the month; News Corp. was off 2.9 percent Thursday and is down 8.9 percent in September; and Time Warner lost 3.6 percent on the day but 8.7 percent on the month.

The brutal month has knocked billions from the market capitalizations of the major media corporations. As of Thursday, Comcast was the largest with a market cap of $57.8 billion, followed by Disney ($54.8 billion), News Corp. ($41.4 billion), Time Warner ($30.2 billion), Viacom ($22.8 billion), Sony ($18.7 billion) and CBS ($14.1 billion).