Walt Disney Co.DISBUYDec 21, 2017Stock price when the opinion was issued
As of Jun 04, 2026. Market Open.
Has become the victim of a sort of new wokeism, which alienated a big chunk of consumers. He sold. Challenge is the franchise is one of a kind, but management keeps making mistakes.
Inexpensive here, if you have a long horizon. Reasonable value, but no immediate catalyst. Business is good, it just needs to find the next CEO with the right vision; when they get that right, the stock will move.
It's a good company, doing the right things. People still want to go their theme parks and cruise ships. Their streamer is doing a good job, taking the baton from linear TV. The stock looks like 2021 during the pandemic. Revenues and EPS are growing above 10% in each of the next two years, is trading at 14x PE and a dividend growing like crazy. But not it's uncomfortable to hold this stock, but you will be rewarded if you are patient.
You have to appreciate its brand power. Does something that no one else in the world can or does, and they do it very well. Lots of avid fans.
That said, not sure its valuation is merited. Cost of running theme parks is very high, and probably getting higher. In an economic slowdown, people may not pay those prices. Media assets are in constant competition. He's a value investor. Wait for a pullback.
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.
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%.
Buy at these levels? He thinks it’s a buy. A classic juggernaut. Thinks the acquisitions of the FOX assets is going to go through. He’s seen good enough operations in the last 5 or 6 years and so consistent. The results are really good; 12-13% return year in year out. It is stretched on valuation, but he will pay for a good company over a lousy or one that looks super cheap. He is not too concerned about the ESPN situation with people cutting their cable subscription and going to Netflix. He thinks they will figure out a solution either stream it or whatever, the content is still there, it’s just a different platform, they will figure a way to monetize it.