Yahoo Finance Disney's (DIS) Latest Indiana Jones Movie Hits the Right Chord
Disney DIS division Lucasfilm's latest installment, Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, has hit the ground running, dominating the global box office with an impressive opening weekend gross of $130.6 million.
Starring the legendary Harrison Ford in his iconic role as Indiana Jones, the film has garnered positive reviews from moviegoers, receiving an 88% Rotten Tomatoes audience score and favorable PostTraks ratings across various demographics.
The movie's success was not limited to its domestic market, as it also claimed the top spot in key international territories such as Argentina, Australia, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and the U.K. Moreover, it achieved record-breaking opening weekend numbers in Denmark, Finland and Greece.
Directed by James Mangold and featuring a star-studded cast, including Phoebe Waller-Bridge and Antonio Banderas, Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny builds upon the beloved characters and adventures created by Disney legend George Lucas and Philip Kaufman.
The Walt Disney Company Price and Consensus
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Disney’s Strong Portfolio to Boost Growth
The success of Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny is important for Disney after the unimpressive box office performances of Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania and Elemental. Although Guardians of the Galaxy: Vol 3 did well, it was not enough to drive Disney’s box office performance this year.
Disney peer Warner Bros. WBD also had a tough first half of 2023 with poor performances of Shazam! Fury of the Gods and The Flash. However, Comcast CMCSA, Sony and Paramount Global PARA had a better half thanks to Super Mario Bros. Movie, M3gan, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, and Scream VI, respectively.
Disney has a strong portfolio of upcoming movies, including Theater Camp, Haunted Mansion, and Poor Things in the second half of the year.
The company recently shuffled its upcoming release slate including movies from the Avatar, Marvel, and Star Wars franchises, as reported by a CNBC article. The precise reasons behind these changes remain undisclosed, but the ongoing writers' strike, which has disrupted film and television production, may be a contributing factor.
One notable adjustment includes James Cameron's third and fourth Avatar movies, originally slated for 2024 and 2026, respectively. The third installment is now set to release in December 2025, with the fourth film following in 2029.
Moreover, Disney has delayed several upcoming Marvel films, such as Captain America: Brave New World, Thunderbolts, Blade, and Fantastic Four. Even the highly anticipated Avengers movies, The Kang Dynasty and Secret Wars, have been postponed until 2026 and 2027, respectively.
Moreover, a Star Wars film originally planned for December 2025 has been moved to May 2026, while another Star Wars installment has been added to the schedule for December 2026. This delay comes after a hiatus in the Star Wars franchise since the release of The Rise of Skywalker in 2019.
What Awaits Disney Shares in 2H23?
Disney’s shares have gained 4.2% year to date, underperforming the Zacks Consumer & Discretionary sector’s increase of 12.1% during the same time frame.
Moreover, it has underperformed its peers Warner Bros. Discovery and Comcast but has outperformed Paramount. Shares of Warner Bros. and Comcast have increased 37.2% and 19.4% year to date, respectively. However, Paramount shares have declined 3.3% year to date.
Disney expects fiscal 2023 revenues and operating income to grow in the high single-digit percentage range. This Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) company expects weakness in Disney+’s domestic subscriber base to continue in the third quarter but anticipates core subscriber growth to rebound in the fourth quarter. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for third-quarter revenues is pegged at $22.52 billion, indicating 4.72% growth from the year-ago quarter’s reported figure.
The consensus mark for third-quarter 2023 earnings is pegged at $1.02 per share, down 6.4% in the past 30 days.
Disclaimer: This article has been written with the assistance of Generative AI. However, the author has reviewed, revised, supplemented, and rewritten parts of this content to ensure its originality and the precision of the incorporated information.
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