Disney's Outlook Isn't As Bad As Results Look, According To Deutsche Bank

Walt Disney Co DIS reported its F2Q16 revenue and operating income below expectations. Deutsche Bank’s Bryan Kraft maintained a Hold rating for the company, with a price target of $113. The analyst commented that the forward outlook is not as dismal as the recent results might make it seem at first glance.

Walt Disney reported its revenue and operating income below the Deutsche Bank estimates in the Cable Networks, Parks, and Consumer Products & Interactive Media segments. Results from the Filmed Entertainment and Broadcasting segments were ahead.

Overall, revenue and operating income missed the Deutsche Bank estimates by 2 percent and 5 percent, respectively, Kraft noted. The company’s adj. EPS was 8 percent below the estimate.

Tough Quarter, But Outlook Not As Bad

“We don’t think, at this point, that the implications for the forward outlook are as negative as the results might make it seem at first glance,” Kraft wrote.

Although advertising in Media Networks was down in 2Q, the outlook for F3Q is not related to the College Football BCS issues that caused the F2Q decline. Broadcasting results were better than expected, backed by higher ad revenue and lower expenses.

“Recent box office performance of Jungle Book and Captain America implies upside to what we think the market’s expectations were prior to release,” the analyst mentioned. He added that estimates for Parks already reflected a significant decline in revenue and operating income growth in F3Q and F4Q.

“The one area in which we think there are negative implications for at least the near-term consensus outlook is Consumer Products & Interactive Media, which missed our OI estimate pretty materially (18%). However, Consumer Products & Interactive Media is an inherently volatile business from quarter to quarter,” Kraft commented.