The Walt Disney Company DIS reached a new 52-week high of $115.67 on Jul 2 and eventually closed trade a notch lower at $114.97, surging roughly 23.3% year to date. The upside was mainly driven by the superb box office performance of its movies.
Inside Out again emerged as the second best pick of the weekend overthrowing the likes of Time Warner’s TWX Magic Mike XXL and Viacom, Inc.’s VIAB Terminator Genisys. A Pixar gem, Inside Out nabbed $30 million in its third weekend taking total collections to an impressive $246.2 million in the U.S.
Comcast Corporation’s CMCSA dino reboot Jurassic World continues with its rampage at the no. 1 slot in its fourth weekend with nearly $31 million in collections, taking the domestic count to a whopping $558 million.
Similar to last year, 2015 is turning out to be another great year for Disney as the movie business continues to post record-breaking numbers. The studio has grossed over $1 billion so far at the domestic box office. This is the tenth successive year of the studio to exceed the billion dollar mark. Looking at the domestic box office numbers, Avengers 2 has earned $454.2 million so far and Cinderella has made $200.3 million in collections.
Total collections of Avengers: Age of Ultron are nearing the $1.4 billion mark globally whereas Cinderella, released in March, also did sound business with a total box office haul of over $534 million.
Moreover, the success of Avengers and Inside Out spells great opportunity for the company’s consumer products division. Though Tomorrowland was a box office disappointment, it is likely to be overshadowed by the other releases.
Given Marvel’s runaway success these days, Paul Rudd starrer Ant-Man is expected to be a hit when it releases in July. Now that dinosaurs are the movie-goers’ no. 1 choice once again, 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 without a doubt is 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.
Apart from movies, a couple of other developments grabbed investor attention including a 15% hike in the company’s annual dividend to $1.32 per share, which will now be payable semi annually. Moreover, the company has decided to combine its Interactive and Consumer Products segments to attain cost effectiveness.
Disney also named Treasurer and company veteran of 15 years, Christine McCarthy, as the new Chief Financial Officer (CFO) who will take over the position from outgoing CFO James Rasulo.
Disney, which carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy), is scheduled to report third-quarter fiscal 2015 results on Aug 4, 2015.
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