Recently, entertainment giant Disney (DIS) launched its upfronts, the time of year when entertainment networks try to sell advertising. To do this, said networks show off what they have coming up that would make advertisers interested in showing off their products and services. Disney pulled out all the stops for its upfront, the first under new CEO Josh D’Amaro. And investors took it well enough, giving Disney a fractional boost in Thursday morning’s trading.
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D’Amaro led with a few decent jokes, starting with, “This is my first Upfront as CEO of The Walt Disney Company, so naturally we decided to keep the pressure low and put a few thousand media executives in one room to stare at me.” He followed up with a joke about the Knicks before turning serious, noting, “Everybody, in their own way, is racing to assemble something. Studios Streaming services. Sports rights.”
This was not all D’Amaro’s show, though, as he brought out NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell to emphasize that Disney has the 2027 Super Bowl. Television clips and occasional promotions followed, and Disney showed off its upcoming content. Quite a bit of reaction to Disney’s upfront, meanwhile, focused on Disney’s acquisition of the Super Bowl, with Carat USA chief investment officer Carrie Drinkwater noting, “The Super Bowl has been driving the upfront conversation for the past three to five years.”
Maybe Don’t Blow Kisses at Stormtroopers
The parks, meanwhile, recently demonstrated why they remain a top-notch experience, even as cries about unaffordability mount. A viral video making the rounds featured two Stormtroopers in full patrol armor, when one patron blew said Stormtrooper a kiss. The white-armored figure grabbed the kiss from the air, tossed it on the ground, and ground it under foot before resuming his patrol.
That level of commitment to the bit is part of what makes Disney parks a singular experience. Granted, they also cost like mortgage payments these days, but for those who do go, they are reasonably assured a good time presented by some of the hardest-working and most committed cast members around.
Is Disney Stock a Buy or Hold?
Turning to Wall Street, analysts have a Strong Buy consensus rating on DIS stock based on 16 Buys and two Holds assigned in the past three months, as indicated by the graphic below. After a 6.52% loss in its share price over the past year, the average DIS price target of $133.81 per share implies 26.48% upside potential.
