Years of excitement had finally boiled down to this last weekend for the release of, Star Wars Episode 7, The Force Awakens. Star Wars fans old and new put on thier Darth Vader costumes, dusted off their lightsabers, and packed theaters around the world to experience one of the most highly anticipated movies in the history of global cinema. I for one had not watched any of the previous movies before watching this one. It was a very well made, easy to follow movie for me that is bound to be a Blockbuster hit in its coming theatrical months.
What does this mean for Disney's stock "force"? Battling the news that its cable business, which accounts for 50% of Disney's revenue, is rapidly heading downhill, Star Wars has the magnitude to overturn the loss that Disney will feel from the losses at ESPN and Disney Channel. Underperform? I think not. With the biggest domestic (248M) and international (281M) opening weekends, Star Wars might as well have established itself as the savior for Disney's declining cable business. The scary part about all this, the movie is just getting started, let alone the money Disney will rake in when all merchandise, especially gifts for the holiday season, are taken into account. The movie hasn't even debuted in the largest movie market, China, and won't until January 21st. Not to mention the new Star Wars themed areas, in Disney theme parks which will once again attract an audience of all ages. Wall street has predicted that Disney's quarter over quarter revenue will rse from 13.5B to 14.75B and EPS from $1.2 to $1.4. This massive jump in top and bottom line is expected because of the movie, the question to be asked is will Disney meet, miss, or exceed the jump that Wall Street expects.
How did this come about? Back in 2012 Disney bought the Star Wars franchise from George Lucas and Lucasfilm for 4 Billion dollars, yes a B. Looking at it now many say Disney bought at a very discounted price. After its opening weekend, many analysts predict Star Wars merchandise and ticket sales alone could well easily cross the 3 Billion dollar mark. This, with two more movies still left to produce in the trilogy, both of which will probably be equally as big if not bigger. Its no doubt that the Star Wars empire will bring great fortune for Disney in the short and long future, not to say JJ Abrams has picked up a fan or two along the way. As said in the title, the Force Awakens?... it can't be awoken... becasue it never slept, and this is the force that will carry Disney's stock soaring to new heights.
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