Walt Disney Co. (NYSE: DIS) is scheduled to release its fiscal third-quarter financial results after the markets close on Tuesday. The consensus estimates from Thomson Reuters call for $1.55 in earnings per share (EPS) and $14.42 billion in revenue. In the same period of last year, the entertainment giant posted EPS of $1.62 and $14.28 billion in revenue.
Earlier this summer, 24/7 Wall St. pointed out that Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE: VZ) is considering Disney as a takeover target. The huge telecom company and wireless carrier already has snapped up AOL and Yahoo as part of a plan to consolidate content assets, particularly those that contain video. The move would also allow Verizon to keep up with AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T), which recently bought Time Warner.
On the first anniversary of Disney Shanghai Disneyland, company CEO Robert Iger said that the theme park had attracted more than 11 million visitors since its opening in the summer of 2016. Iger noted that attendance far exceeded the company’s expectations.
That’s good news for the Mouse House, which saw attendance at all its parks rise by just 2.5 million last year. Without Shanghai Disneyland, attendance would have dropped by more than 2.5 million, according to the TEA/AECOM Theme Index and Museum Report for 2016.
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Excluding Tuesday’s move, Disney stock has underperformed the broad markets in 2017 with the stock up only 2% year to date. However, over the past 52 weeks the stock is up about 11%.
A few analysts weighed in on Disney ahead of its earnings report:
- Credit Suisse has an Outperform rating with a $125 price target.
- BMO Capital Markets has a Sell rating with a $95 price target.
- RBC has a Buy rating with a $130 price target.
- Guggenheim has a Buy rating with a $122 price target.
- Merrill Lynch has a Hold rating with a $125 price target.
- Morgan Stanley has an Overweight rating with a $130 price target.
- Moffett Nathanson has a Buy rating.
- Wells Fargo has a Market Perform rating with a $111 price target.
Disney shares were last seen up 0.5% at $106.90, with a consensus analyst price target of $117.11 and a 52-week trading range of $90.32 to $116.10.
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