Force Friday Episode II: Can Disney Replicate The Success Of Its Last 'Star Wars' Mega-Event?

Store Wars II is coming to a mall not far, far away from you. And no, that's no typo ...

The second edition of “Force Friday” — the massive merchandising blitz by Walt Disney Co DIS ahead of its “Star Wars: The Last Jedi” debut — begins a minute after midnight on Sept. 1, and one analyst thinks much of the market bump is already baked in.

No Repeat Of Force Friday’s Wookie Year?

“While the event is sure to capture a myriad of headlines over the next 72 hours, perhaps even resulting in a mild lift in DIS shares on heavy volume, FQ4 Consumer Products/ Interactive revenue growth of 12.6 percent and EBIT growth of 13.4 percent is already built into the stock in our opinion,” said Loop Capital Markets analyst David W. Miller.

Related Link: Analyst: Disney Losing Netflix Doesn’t Matter

He maintains a Hold rating and lowered the price target a dollar to $106. Disney opened at $102.87.

When the first Force Friday kicked off in 2015 to start the hype machine for “Star Wars: The Force Awakens,” the unveiling of merchandise “was a fantastic success any way you want to measure it,” he said, noting that Disney’s $1.5 billion haul in consumer products licensing sales came from collectibles.

tipranks.png

Miller notes that this year, Disney’s promotional backbone is an augmented reality experience in which consumers download a app from Apple Inc. AAPL in whatever store they’re inside. There are 20,000 retailers taking part.

Disney shares are 10.4 percent off their 52-week high achieved in April and down 1.1 percent this year and “will likely either be, at best, range-bound for the foreseeable future until the Street gets into a zone where numbers start going up again,” he said.

Related Link: Analyst: Disney Losing Netflix Doesn’t Matter

Market News and Data brought to you by Benzinga APIs
Comments
Loading...
date
ticker
name
Price Target
Upside/Downside
Recommendation
Firm
Posted In: Analyst ColorNewsPrice TargetPreviewsReiterationEventsAnalyst RatingsMediaTrading IdeasGeneralAppledisneyPrincess LeiaStar Wars
Benzinga simplifies the market for smarter investing

Trade confidently with insights and alerts from analyst ratings, free reports and breaking news that affects the stocks you care about.

Join Now: Free!