FBR Hasn't Stopped Believing In Disney, Watch Out For Football And 'The Most Merchandizable Movie Series Ever'

A wave of bearish sentiment appears to have hit media stocks, including those of Walt Disney Co DIS. However, FBR analyst Barton Crockett reiterated an Outperform rating and $124 price target on Disney, believing that investor sentiment would respond to performance and that there are near-term performance positives for the company that could help the shares recover.

Firstly, Disney has the opportunity to separate itself from its peers with robust 2H15 ad trends with the return of football. "Despite the tough NASCAR/World Cup comps, Disney sees ad sales rising in the September quarter," the FBR report stated.

Related Link: The Next AOL? Disney And Time Warner Could Be

In addition, retailers across the United States are set to open their doors at midnight on September 4 to launch the first tranche of new movie merchandise for "Star Wars." In fact, according to Crockett, "We do not think that level of retail support for a movie has ever happened before, setting this up to be the most merchandizable movie series ever."

Online interest also indicates that "Star Wars" could turn out to be the "biggest movie series ever," with expectations of profit well above $1 billion per movie, and with spin-offs and sequels already planned for each year in the foreseeable future.

Also, with the company witnessing robust high single-digit affiliate fee growth, Crockett expects "cord-cutting fears" to diminish going forward. Crockett also expressed optimism regarding Disney's prospects in Shanghai over time.