Here’s Why Third Point Reinitiated its Position in The Walt Disney Company (DIS)

Third Point, a New York-based investment advisor, released its third-quarter 2022 investor letter. A copy of the same can be downloaded here. In the third quarter, the Third Point Offshore Fund returned -3.2% compared to a -4.9% return for the S&P 500 Index and -6.1% return for the MSCI World Index. In addition, please check the fund’s top five holdings to know its best picks in 2022.

Third Point discussed stocks like The Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS) in the Q3 2022 investor letter. Based in Burbank, California, The Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS) is a global entertainment company. On October 18, 2022, The Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS) stock closed at $98.48 per share. One-month return of The Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS) was -5.75% and its shares lost 42.26% of their value over the last 52 weeks. The Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS) has a market capitalization of $179.535 billion.

Here is what Third Point specifically said about The Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS) in its Q3 2022 investor letter:

“As disclosed in our Q2 letter, we reinitiated a significant position in The Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS) when the company retested its Covid lows earlier this year. At the current price, Disney is trading for little more than the stand-alone value of its Parks business and a mere 15x ’24 “street” consensus. The company remains early in its Direct to Consumer (“DTC”) transition with a leading market position, and yet the current stock price ascribes negligible value to the streaming business. We believe this is due to questions around the terminal economics of streaming, given large losses being generated today at Disney (>$1 billion dollars last quarter) and stagnating margins at peers such as Netflix. On the last earnings call, management highlighted three items that could lead to an inflection in DTC profitability over the next 12 months: a 38% price increase for Disney+ in the US; moderating growth in cash content expense; and an advertising tier for Disney+ launching in two months that can drive additional ARPU given high demand for the Disney brand amongst advertisers.

While the company has guided to Disney+ achieving breakeven sometime within the fiscal year ending September 2024, the valuation suggests the market remains skeptical. Disney only trades at ~14x the $7 in earnings generated prior to the Fox acquisition, which implies investors don’t expect earnings to meaningfully exceed this figure in the coming years. Hence, the first value driver we highlighted in our last letter is the opportunity for management to optimize Disney’s cost base to drive earnings growth. We believe Disney has ample means to rationalize costs across its operating platform and deliver targeted content for home viewing that does not entail the same cost structure of exclusive theatrical releases…” (Click here to view the full text)

spatuletail/Shutterstock.com

The Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS) is in 12th position on our list of 30 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. As per our database, 109 hedge fund portfolios held The Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS) at the end of the second quarter which was 113 in the previous quarter.

We discussed The Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS) in another article and shared the best fundamental stocks to buy. In addition, please check out our hedge fund investor letters Q3 2022 page for more investor letters from hedge funds and other leading investors.

Suggested Articles:

Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.