The Walt Disney Company DIS reached a new 52-week high of $114.47 yesterday and eventually closed trade a notch lower at $113.53, surging roughly 21.1% year to date. The upside mainly came from Disney-Pixar’s latest offering Inside Out that proved to be a money-spinner at the box office.
Topping analyst expectations of $60—$70 million, Inside Out collected an impressive $91 million at the domestic box office over its debut weekend. The movie managed to hold its own at the box office despite the Jurassic World juggernaut that shows no signs of stopping.
Moreover, Inside Out managed to rake in $41 million internationally, taking the total count to an impressive $132 million. Unlike the 14 previous Pixar releases that opened at the no. 1 slot, Inside Out opened at no. 2, behind Comcast Corporations’ CMCSA dino reboot that was at the top with over $102 million in collections.
However, it broke a few records with its collections of $91 million. It has now become the highest opening weekend grosser that did not top the charts. It also bettered the $77 million mark set by Twenty-First Century Fox, Inc ‘s. FOXA Avatar during its opening weekend in 2009, highest for an original and a non-sequel movie.
Inside Out’s collections have outperformed all of Pixar’s earlier movies that managed to open at the no. 1 slot. It is now the second-highest grossing Pixar movie after Toy Story 3, which earned a whopping $110 million on its debut weekend in 2010.
With fantastic reviews, Pixar’s strong brand value and Disney’s unparalleled marketing abilities, Inside Out is likely to continue the good run at the box office in both domestic and international territories.
Like 2014, 2015 is turning out to be another great year for Disney as the movie business continues to post record-breaking numbers. Avengers: Age of Ultron, released in May, is nearing the $1.4 billion mark whereas Inside Out has scored tremendously at the box office. Cinderella, released in March, also did sound business with a box office haul of over $513 million.
The success of Avengers and now Inside Out spells great opportunity for the company’s consumer products division. However, Tomorrowland was a box office disappointment, but that is likely to be overshadowed by the other releases.
Given Marvel’s runaway success these days, Paul Rudd starrer Ant-Man is likely to deliver when it releases in July. Now that dinosaurs are once again the movie-goers’ no. 1 choice, Pixar’s next project, The Good Dinosaur is also likely to hit the jackpot when it releases later this year. The movie depicts what would have happened if the asteroid that wiped the dinosaurs missed Earth.
Finally, Disney will release Star Wars: The Force Awakens in December, which is undoubtedly the most awaited release of the year. Already touted as a billion dollar movie, it is looking to shatter most records when it releases. No wonder, the movie’s trailers are seeing an unprecedented number of views.
Conclusively, there is no stopping Disney any time in the near future. At present Disney carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).
Apart from Disney, another stock worth considering in the media/ publishing sector is The New York Times Company NYT which also carries a Zacks Rank #2.
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