Goldman Sachs on Tuesday upgraded Disney to buy from hold, predicting a 20 percent-plus rally over the next 12 months amid the release of several potential blockbusters from its movie studio beginning at the end of this year.
« Studio entertainment should benefit from what may [be] Disney’s strongest ever film slate with 4 Marvel films, 2 ‘Star Wars’ films and 3 animated family films, » equity analyst Drew Borst wrote in a note to clients. « Notably, this will be the first time that Disney has ever had 2 ‘Star Wars’ films in a single [fiscal] year with ‘Star Wars: Episode VIII’ (Dec. 15, 2017) and Han Solo ‘Star Wars’ Anthology (May 25, 2018). »
Borst is referring to Disney’s fiscal 2018, which begins this October.
He believes fiscal 2018 will mark a new record for revenue and operating income from movie production, with many of the new releases driving high-margin consumer product licensing.
