Disney, Post-Fox Buy, a 'Story Without a Concrete Financial Anchor,' Says Analyst
Barclays outlined a strategic road map it believes Disney should take before the company’s April 11 investor day webcast. Attention is focused on Disney’s upcoming over-the-top video product launch, but Barclays believes the company should focus on aggregation as much…
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as stand-alone OTT services; technology as much as content; global total addressable market (TAM) and “wholesale tie ups”; rethinking company organizational structure; and committing to a “scaled pivot.” Disney stock, since the closing of the Fox transaction (see 1903120006), “is a story without a concrete financial anchor,” wrote analyst Kannan Venkateshwar in a Wednesday note to investors. Barclays pegs Disney’s global TAM at 455 million, and the company has a chance to add 170 million subscribers via Disney Plus, Hulu and ESPN Plus by 2025, making its OTT play comparable in scale to Netflix and Amazon. “Given the build-up in expectations, anything less (or silence on TAM) would be a disappointment,” said Venkateshwar.