Walt Disney (NYSE:DIS) is a market darling again. The media giant’s stock is hitting new highs, finally taking out its peak 2015 prices. The stock has moved nearly 14% higher over the past five trading days, a big move for a stock that has been stuck in neutral for most of the past four years.
The shares have been rallying since the investor event in which it offered up the specs for its upcoming Disney+ streaming video platform. Things don’t appear to be cooling down anytime soon. Let’s go over the big reasons why Disney stock should stay hot.
Image source: Disney.
The old adage of “buy on the rumor and sell on the news” can bite companies after major developments, but for Disney, this is the year when the hits will just keep on coming. Last week’s Disney+ news was impressive, but it’s hard to sell into the rally when you see what entertainment behemoth has in the pipeline in the coming weeks and months.
Disney will dominate the box office next weekend with Thursday’s debut of Avengers: Endgame. Some feel that it will be the year’s biggest winner at the box office, and the balance are betting on Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker as the top draw when it debuts in December.
Disney isn’t taking a breather in the nearly eight months between the two releases. There will be Toy Story 4 in June, The Lion King reboot in July, and Frozen 2 in November. Disney already has this year’s highest-grossing film in Captain Marvel. By the end of the year, it could have five and possibly six of this year’s biggest winners at the box office.
Disney’s theme parks segment has become its largest and most reliable business, and things are looking great on that front. The first phase of Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge opens at Disneyland in California near the end of next month. A similar expansion will open at Disney World three months later. Disney is in the process of making major infrastructure and lodging capacity moves to deal with the larger crowds at Disney World, and that is even after bumping its prices higher last month.
We also can’t forget that it also recently completed the largest acquisition in Disney’s corporate history. The deal for key Fox assets will make the company that has proven its ability to increase the value and exposure of the intellectual properties in its arsenal even more valuable.
We also can’t forget that the event that kicked off this rally hasn’t really happened. Disney+ won’t launch until Nov. 12. It is aggressively priced, but that is just what Disney had to do to turn heads as a latecomer in this thriving niche.
Lay out all of Disney’s new movies, theme park additions, and product launches and the market isn’t going to be able to catch its breath between needle-moving events. You don’t sell on the news when the news keeps coming.