October 16, 2008
This article from BusinessWeek has some optimistic words for the larger Walt Disney Corporation…
"If I may grossly oversimplify, the stories go something like this: News Corp.'s Rupert Murdoch has employed his strategic brilliance to painstakingly assemble a machine that will outsmart all players on the global media chessboard. Disney deserves a premium stock valuation from its powerful brands and its unparalleled variety of ways to make money from them. (It's been selling this notion to investors lately, under the alliterative tag "the Disney Difference.") Both have been knocked around by the stock market in the past year. Disney's 27% drop over the twelve months ending Oct. 14 sounds grim, but such a showing outperforms its peers and market indexes."
Even though Disney has had a rough year, they seem to think that Disney still has a strong stock.
"While this slow media environment is likely mere rehearsal for what looms, Disney appears to be a better bet for stability. Ultimately, its trump cards are pretty prosaic: The company is less dependent on advertising, and it sold off a newspaper division in 1997. The media moguls perched in massive offices brooding over bold moves may not want to hear it, but in times like these, strategic brilliance doesn't drive their stocks. Avoiding anything radioactive does."
It seems to be that Disney gets its staying power from being independent and not making any dramatic errors. This is good to hear. Many articles have some very depressing words about Disney and it is nice to know that not everyone thinks that they are in real danger.
