Quarterly earnings will show how Disney is weathering the pandemic economy
Quarterly earnings will show how Disney is weathering the pandemic economy
Disney reports quarterly earnings this week. It’s fair to say the company, like many others, has had its share of ups and downs during the pandemic. It had to close theme parks and dock cruise boats early on. Now it’s negotiating the reopening of some parks around the world. It’s also seeing opportunities to interact with users through its Disney+ TV streaming services.
Much of what Disney does involves density: packing people into theme parks, movie theaters, cruises.
“If there was ever a poster child for being vulnerable to COVID-19 in terms of your business model, Disney is it,” said Lloyd Greif, CEO of an investment bank in Los Angeles.
He said Disney was flying high just six months ago. Now things are very different.
“Disney has to be rethinking the model in this environment,” Greif said.
And it’s starting to capitalize more on people staying at home. Disney purchased 21st Century Fox last year and recently started a new streaming service, Disney+, that attracted a lot of attention when it aired “Hamilton,” and, more recently, Beyoncé’s visual album, “Black Is King,” which is now the top-trending title on the platform.
Abraham Ravid, professor of finance at Yeshiva University, said Disney is diversified enough to hold on even if the pandemic lasts for a while.
“If they could go back to normal, so to speak, by the end of the year, they should be OK,” Ravid said. “They’ll have losses, but they should be able to withstand it.”
One key for the future, he said, is for the company to keep adding subscribers to Disney+.
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