Disney Stock: Endless Possibilities! – Financial trends

The results of the first quarter of Walt Disney Co. (NYSE:DIS) and the company’s conference call Wednesday were the first since Bob Iger has returned as the company’s CEO, replacing his former successor, Bob Chapek.

Disney relies on well-known hits to cut costs

Iger and the Disney management team discussed layoffs, cost-cutting measures, the Disney+ strategy, divestitures and plans for ESPN as some of the key topics of the earnings call.

Another point was Iger’s announcement that Disney was working on sequels for the Toy Story, Frozen and Zootopia franchises. That means movie lovers will be seeing Toy Story 5, Frozen III, and Zootopia 2 for years to come.

Announcing the sequels to existing hit franchises could be part of the company’s plans to cut content costs and perhaps focus on well-known hits and fewer experiments.

time has changed

“The times have changed. It’s gotten more competitive, the forces of disruption have only gotten bigger and there are certain things left over from COVID that have gotten tougher from a macro perspective,” Iger said.

Iger said that part of the key to Disney’s success over the years has been the storytellers in entertainment. “We are still a company focused on creativity at its highest.”

Disney plans to spend less money making movies and TV shows, which could affect the launch of new franchises, so The Mouse is instead relying on franchises that already exist.

Disney’s perfect streaming cinema balance

While other companies focus on their streaming platforms, Disney has sought a balance between its theatrical and streaming content. Some of the company’s streaming originals come from existing franchises like Pixar, Marvel, and Star Wars.

Disney has strong Star Wars and Marvel content coming to the big screen, and the announcement of sequels for these three hit franchises should be music to Disney shareholders’ ears.

Here’s a look at the franchise’s grossing history to date, with data from BoxOfficeMojo

• “Toy Story,” 1995: $191.8 million domestic, $52.9 million international, $244.7 million total
• “Toy Story 2,” 1999: $245.9M domestic, $241.2M international, $487.1M total
• “Toy Story 3,” 2010: $415 million domestic, $652 million international, $1.07 billion total
• “Toy Story 4,” 2019: $434M domestic, $639.3M international, $1.07B total
• “Frozen,” 2013, $401 million domestic, $883.6 million international, $1.28 billion total
• “Frozen II,” 2019: $477.4M domestic, $976.3M international, $1.45B total
• “Zootopia,” 2016: $341.3M domestic, $684.3M international, $1.03B total

Toy Story 4: Outstanding success at the box office

The Toy Story franchise has been one of the keys to Pixar’s success over the years. Toy Story 4 was the third highest-grossing Pixar film domestically and the 28th and 37th highest-grossing films of all time, respectively, at the domestic and world box offices. “Toy Story 3” ranks 34th all-time domestically and 38th all-time worldwide in terms of grossing.

“Frozen” and “Frozen 2” top Disney hit lists

The Frozen franchise remains one of Disney’s best of all time. The first film from 2013 ranks 44th domestically and 19th worldwide in the box office. “Frozen 2” ranks at #20 all-time domestically and #13 all-time at the worldwide box office.

While it may be years before the films hit theaters, releasing one of these films each year in addition to the Marvel and Star Wars films could help Disney continue to dominate the box office competition and create a “Trickle -down” effect on other business areas.

One of the most important things to watch going forward will be what the expectations will be for “Toy Story 5” given that Buzz Lightyear’s origin story called “Lightyear” grossed $115.8 million at the box office Underperformed domestically and $97.8 million in international theaters.

Disney profits from the big franchise film

Disney can benefit from a major franchise film in theaters in a number of ways. The company could land consumer products and licensing deals around the release, and also launch themed marketing campaigns at its theme parks. The theatrical release could also help Disney with box office revenue and provide the opportunity to show the film on cable and streaming platforms.

DIS course development: Disney shares fell 1.27% on Thursday to close at $110.36, giving up earlier gains in after-hours trading.