Barry Schwartz Walt Disney Co. DIS-N COMMENT Dec 20, 2016

After some management turnover, it's finally getting its feet right. He likes a lot of what the current CEO is doing.

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.

Is up 7% YTD and 20% the past year. The stock is breaking out. It set a 52-week high last week.

Though a streamer like NFLX, they are in very different businesses. The opportunity in DIS is their succession plan which should be a positive catalyst. 

Is up 19% in the last 3 months. Trades at 19x PE, a decent discount to the market, 13-16% earnings growth, movies have rebounded and theme parks are doing well. A great company. 

You can't compare this to Netflix, because they have different drivers. Their movies and theme parks (up 9% this year) are doing well.

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%.

It reports Wednesday. He thinks Disney+ will be good, sports TV is getting better, theme parks will continue to him while cruises will continue to make a ton of money.

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.

It's been consolidating and has to outperform earnings to break out which he expects, given strong theme parts and streaming. It's neither cheap or pricey at 20x PE.