Stock price when the opinion was issued
Spike in stock is due to fears of an economic slowdown being put at bay. Theme parks are expanding, but will depend on macro environment. ESPN is more challenged. Disney+ is challenged because NFLX is beating everybody. Paying 20x PE for 12-13% growth. Doesn't dislike the name, but some segments are having a tough go.
Mixed feelings. On the positive side, doing exceptionally well in streaming with a great library and great branding. Cross-sells better than anyone. Worried about the parks in the short term -- consumer slowdown, expecting global backlash against the US. Hard to bet against its 6-decade growth story for the long term. Balance sheet in fine shape, decent cashflow. Yield is 0.8%.
Streaming turned profitable by end of 2024, finally, after a reorganization, and is now a major growth driver. Theme parks have been the largest profit generator and they keep coming out with new parks; people are paying high amounts to enjoy them. He expects healthy earnings to come. They will announce a deal between their ESPN and the NFL--sports drives huge profits. Everything is going right, but they need to appoint a successor to Bob Iger.
A name he would hold, but would not be buying aggressively. It is a company that is hard to argue with. A fabulous company from a media property standpoint. They’ve struggled a little in the last couple of quarters, largely because of ESPN. Fabulous CEO. Lots of good things about the company, but they had such a big run in 2015 and early 2016 but are now starting to fall down. You need to see a couple of more quarters of putting in above consensus numbers. He would not buy aggressively.