Disney's (NYSE: DIS) stock is an interesting mix of old-school, with its theme parks and studio businesses, and tech innovator with its streaming business and digital ventures. The coronavirus has taken many parts of its business off-line but it managed to stem these losses with extraordinary growth in its streaming division.
Over the last 3 months, Disney is down by 14% from its mid-February high. This is in line with weakness from growth stocks and reopening stocks amid rising rates and concerns about another virus variant that is more contagious.
Inside the Numbers
In Q2, Disney's results disappointed relative to expectations for revenue and subscriber growth, sending the stock down another 3%. Earnings per share came in at $0.79 per share, beating expectations of $0.27 per share. Revenue slightly missed at $15.61 billion vs $15.87 billion expected.
For Disney+, it reported 103.6 million paid subs, while analysts were looking for 109 million. Netflix also missed on subscriber growth which could be an indication that near-term growth may be exhausted as the pandemic led to demand being "pulled forward". And, both companies will face tough comps for the next 12 months.
However, the company reiterated its forecast that Disney+ would have between 230 million and 260 million subscribers by 2024. The average revenue per user declined to $3.99 due to the launch of Disney+ Hotstar in certain markets at a lower price point. In total, Disney has 159 million total subscribers across all of its streaming services. Revenue has grown 59% to $4 billion over the past year.
Revenue for parks, experiences, and products declined by 44% to $3.2 billion with many parks closed or operating at reduced capacity including the total suspension of cruises and guided tours.
The company has reopened its two California theme parks on April 30 and is slowly increasing capacity and relaxing its mask-mandate on outdoors activities. Analysts expect these moves to boost revenue in Q3 especially as this part of the business will face light comps.
The company has been holding off on many theatrical releases. It's expected that a slate of new releases will be hitting the screens when theatres reopen. This is likely to similarly boost Disney's studios' division which saw revenues lower by 36%.
Stock Price Outlook
Disney is one of those stocks that tend to go higher over long-term timeframes so any dip merits consideration. This is due to it owning several iconic franchises that parents are eager to introduce to their children in addition to its theme parks division which constantly sets records in terms of attendance with prices being regularly increased.
In a bull market, Disney's 15% dip may be the best entry point for the next couple of months. Over the next few months, Disney is likely to see a huge surge in revenues as people are eager to visit their parks and new titles are released. Streaming's growth may slow, but it's already well ahead of any internal or external growth targets due to the pandemic.