Walt Disney Co (DIS)

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Disney Analysts' Outlooks During Pandemic Are Mixed
By: TheStreet | April 2, 2020

• Walt Disney's share-price target was cut by Guggenheim and Imperial Capital. J.P. Morgan maintained its target and outperform rating.

Walt Disney (DIS) - Get Report shares rose as the iconic media-and-entertainment company received mixed reviews in analyst reports.

Guggenheim Securities downgraded the Burbank, Calif., company's shares to neutral from buy and slashed its share price target to $100 from $160, the lowest among major analysts, according to Bloomberg.

Imperial Capital cut its price target on Disney to $107 from $118.

But J.P. Morgan Securities affirmed its overweight rating and price target of $140.

Guggenheim acted because of the coronavirus scourge. Disney “has been particularly hard hit by the pandemic, impacted across virtually every segment” of its business, the analysts wrote, according to Bloomberg.

“Investors are underappreciating how long the parks and resorts business may be under pressure.”

Imperial Capital, too, was influenced by the pandemic. It lowered its share-price target for the second time in the past few weeks.

Since it last moved, more negative news for the company has emerged from the pandemic, the analysts said, according to Bloomberg.

There is “no evidence as of yet that the situation has stabilized,” they wrote. The parks and cruise lines could remain shuttered for some time.

But J.P Morgan analysts, led by Alexia Quadrani, have a different take.

They see the effect of COVID-19 as “very specific” to fiscal 2020, “with only some lingering impact to attendance at the parks and some disruption in the slate of films as an issue that may bleed into fiscal 2021,” the analysts said.

“Our longer-term favorable thesis on Disney shares is unchanged,” they said.

“We are impressed with Disney’s ability to balance growth in its traditional businesses with investment in an incredibly successful streaming service.”

Disney shares at last check stood at $95.02, up 0.1%.

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