Disney’s shares experienced a slight rise of 0.6% on Friday, following a slump to a nine-year low the previous day. The entertainment giant’s shares closed Thursday at $82.47, the lowest since October 2014 when the stock stood at $82.68. Disney’s underperformance is evident in comparison to the S&P 500, with a year-to-date decline of about 5% against the S&P’s approximately 15% increase.
Challenges Facing Disney
Disney’s business has faced numerous hurdles lately, including a slowdown in its parks business, a drop in its linear TV division, a decrease in subscribers to its Disney+ streaming service, and poor performance at the box office compared to competitors. These challenges have led to calls from Wall Street for Disney to divest unprofitable or non-essential assets.
Potential Amazon Collaboration
According to a report from The Information, Disney is in early discussions with Amazon (AMZN) to transition ESPN to a direct-to-consumer streaming platform. If successful, Amazon could provide ESPN through one of its streaming services, potentially boosting its distribution. Amazon could also acquire a minority stake in ESPN.
The proposed cost for the ESPN streaming service is reported to be between $20 and $35 per month, making it one of the most expensive platforms in the market. However, analysts warn that transitioning ESPN fully to streaming could be challenging due to high sports rights costs and consumer reluctance to pay for an additional streaming service.
Read more at Yahoo Finance.
