Disney leaps higher after Barclays "overweight" upgrade



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Shares of Walt Disney Co. (DIS) surged on Friday after Barclays analysts boosted their equity outlook with a target price of $ 130 in anticipation of 21st Century Fox's ongoing acquisition (FOXA) by the group and the launch of streaming service likely to challenge Netflix (NFLX).

Kannan Venkateshwa, an analyst at Barclays, increased his price target by $ 25 and said Disney would have a strong balance sheet and cost synergies following the $ 71.3 billion deal on Fox's media, outperforming its competitor Comcast Corp. (CMCSA). He also noted that Disney could benefit from "greater visibility" in business units such as its ESPN Sports Network, whose costs are rising and customers are shifting to more options "at the map".

Action Alerts PLUS, which owned Disney shares, was 2.3% to the opening bell on Friday and was changing hands at $ 118.92 each, a decision that extends the progression of the stock since the beginning of the year to about 11%.

Earlier this week, Morgan Stanley raised its price target from $ 5 to $ 135, noting that Disney is trading at 15.3 times 12-month forward earnings, compared to a P / E 85x term for Netflix. , suggesting that the stock offers a much better value at current levels. He also estimated that his online streaming platform, Hulu, would generate about $ 4 billion in revenue in 2018.

The Action Alerts team wrote earlier this week that the recently launched ESPN + DTC subscription service had eclipsed 1 million paid subscribers in September (see our alert right here), and the high number of viewers at the beginning of the NFL season is supportive of healthier trends. In total, we view Disney's growth initiatives as an underrated story in this market and value the value we are getting at current levels.

The streets Bruce Kamich, technical expert, notes that, if Disney's share price is "above the 50-day moving average and the 200-day bullish line", a "new 50" line test days could occur in this environment currently characterized by low equity. . "

Still, Kamich notes, Disney could "organize a major move from here" and "maybe an exchange greater than $ 120 will do it." Stay tuned.

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