Will Walt Disney Co (DIS)’s Enhanced Disney Movies Anywhere Also Enhance Its Stock?

Up until the beginning of August, Walt Disney Co (NYSE:DIS)’s stock was on a well defined uptrend, appreciating by as much as 28% this year before the gains were all wiped out during the latest market turmoil. Since then the stock has recovered some ground and closed on Friday at $100.97, giving the company a market cap of $170 billion. The stock is traded at a trailing Price to Earnings (P/E) ratio of 21.xx, with the analysts’ forward P/E ratio suggesting that Wall Street expects better financial performance from the company. Wells Fargo and Bernstein downgraded the stock in mid-August to ‘Market Perform’ from ‘Outperform’, while Credit Agricole recently initiated coverage of Walt Disney Co (NYSE:DIS), expecting it to ‘Outperform’ its industry.

Star Wars, one of Disney’s main brands, is expected to have a major impact on the company’s revenues in fiscal year 2016, as the latest film installment of the franchise, “The Force Awakens”, is set to be released in December 2015. This promises to drive enormous sales for the company, with the management already pondering the idea of further developing the franchise in the coming years. The company is also busy developing other segments of its business, with the Shanghai Disney theme park set to open its gates in 2016. The popularity of Disney products in China could prove to be a massive growth opportunity for them.

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