Walt Disney Co. (NYSE: DIS) is expected to report its fiscal first-quarter financial results after the markets close on Tuesday. The consensus estimates from Thomson Reuters call for $1.45 in earnings per share (EPS) on $14.75 billion in revenue. In the same period of the previous year, the entertainment giant posted EPS of $1.27 and $13.39 billion in revenue.
This company has been a top-performing Dow stock for years, and it seems like it can do no wrong, the way that it left 2015. Disney would have had a truly outstanding performance last year if not for the sell-off in August, when the stock lost about 20%, but it was still incredibly positive on the year. It was an interesting year for Disney, to say the least, with the advent of “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” and dealing with the challenges of cord-cutting millennials.
The latest Star Wars film has been a definite boom for Disney. This movie broke literally all the box office records. Also we can look forward to the sequels, as Disney intends to get everything it can out of this cash cow franchise.
Disney has suffered a few downgrades recently, as losses primarily related to ESPN put pressure on expectations. ESPN though is still the dominant force in live sports programming in the United States, and it looks set to hold onto its dominance for a long time. There are concerns about ESPN and the cost of sports packages driving more cord cutting.
A few analysts decided to weigh in on Disney recently:
- Topeka Capital Markets has a Buy rating and a lowered its price target to $131 from $133.
- Jefferies reiterated a Hold rating and lowered its price target to $92 from $112.
- Stifel had a Buy rating and lowered its price target from $130 to $110.
So far in 2016, Disney has underperformed the broad markets, with the stock down 12% year to date. Over the past 52 weeks, the stock is down 8.6%.
Shares of Disney traded down 1.5% to $90.77 early Tuesday. The consensus analyst price target is $111.34, and the 52-week trading range is $89.51 to $122.08.
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