Here's How Much Investing $1,000 In Disney The Day It Bought Marvel Would Be Worth Today

Loading...
Loading...

Investors who owned stocks in the 2010s generally experienced some big gains. In fact, the SPDR S&P 500's SPY total return since Aug. 31, 2009 is 327.9%.

On that day in history, Walt Disney Co DIS announced a massive $4 billion buyout of Marvel Entertainment, which remains one of its largest acquisitions to date.

Marvel Buyout: Investors see Disney’s Disney+ streaming platform as one of the biggest reasons to own the stock in the decade ahead. However, Disney+ would be nothing without content, and Marvel content has been some of Disney’s most profitable and popular content of the past decade.

At a $4 billion price tag, Disney certainly paid a hefty price for Marvel. But under Disney’s ownership, Marvel’s valuation has expanded to an estimated $19 billion in the 11 years since the buyout.

At the time the Marvel deal was announced, Disney shares were trading at around $26 back in mid-2009.

Disney was in the early years of fending off streaming competition from upstart Netflix, Inc. NFLX, but Disney was still roughly a decade away from launching its own streaming service.

Three years after the Marvel deal in 2012, Disney announced a $4 billion buyout of Lucasfilm, the owner of the Star Wars franchise. Disney closed the 2010s with one final major acquisition, its largest one of the decade. Following a bidding war with Comcast Corporation CMCSA, Disney acquired the majority of 21st Century Fox’s TV and movie assets in 2019 for a whopping price tag of $71.3 billion.

Related Link: Here's How Much Investing $1,000 In The 2015 Square IPO Would Be Worth Today

Disney’s Marvel content has been a huge reason why Disney+ is off to such a strong start in its first year. As of Aug. 3, Disney+ had 60.5 million paid subscribers, up from 33.5 million as of March 28.

Following the Marvel deal in 2009, Disney shares marched steadily higher, reaching $122 by mid-2015. After nearly four years of trading between around $90 and $120, Disney broke out to new all-time highs in early 2019 ahead of the Disney+ launch. Disney reached its decade high of $153.41 in November just after the launch.

Disney In 2020, Beyond: After dipping as low as $79.07 in March 2020, Disney shares have since made it back up to around $140.

Investors who bought $1,000 of Disney stock on the day the Marvel deal was announced back in 2009 would now be holding a stake worth $5,682, assuming reinvested dividends.

Looking ahead, analysts are expecting some consolidation from Disney in the next 12 months. The average price target among the 22 analysts covering the stock is $140, suggesting 0.1% downside from current levels.

Loading...
Loading...
Posted In: M&AEducationGeneralDisney+MarvelMarvel Entertainment
We simplify 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!

Loading...