**Forbes**: [https://www.forbes.com/sites/dereksaul/2024/02/08/disney-stock-soars-set-for-best-day-since-2020/?sh=39d50f2b1609](https://www.forbes.com/sites/dereksaul/2024/02/08/disney-stock-soars-set-for-best-day-since-2020/?sh=39d50f2b1609)
**Forbes**: **Disney Stock Soars: Set For Best Day Since 2020**.
“Disney shares staged one of their strongest single-day rallies this millennium Thursday on the back of the company’s blowout earnings report, though the entertainment titan still has a ways to go to recapture its former glory on the stock market.
Disney’s stock ballooned almost 13% to just shy of $112 by mid-afternoon, hitting its highest intraday level since Feb. 9, 2023. Should the gains hold, Thursday will be Disney stock’s best day since December 2020 and its fifth-best day since 2000, according to FactSet data.
The dramatic rise for Disney came a day after the company delivered strong quarterly results and projected $4.60 earnings per share for its fiscal year ending in September, which would make 2024 its most profitable fiscal year since 2019.
Bank of America was among several Wall Street firms to dramatically bump its price target for Disney, upping its target from $110 to $130, with analysts led by Jessica Reif Ehrlich remarking they were “incredibly encouraged” by Disney’s bottom line progress under the tutelage of CEO Bob Iger, whose initiatives “are already having an impact” 15 months into Iger’s second tenure at the helm of Disney.”
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**Other announcements:**
* **Parks**: parks made record revenue, margins and income this quarter; 60bil will be invested in parks 70% of which will incremental.
* **Sports**: full ESPN OTT will be launched fall 2025. A bundle of ESPN, FoxSport and Turner “Warner” will be available fall 2024 as a sports bundle for streaming.
* **Subscriber growth**: flat due to 25% price hikes last October but guidance for next quarter is >5.5mil subs.
* **Video games**: Disney bought 1.5bil stake in **Epic Games** to make a Fortnite-style game for Disney.
* **Content**: Disney will stream Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour film with exclusive new content March-15. 6 of the top 10 most streamed films 2023 were Disney+ with Moana being #1 of all streaming “>1 billion hours on D+”. Moana2 will be released this November. Zootopia 2 and Frozen 3 are upcoming in the following two years. Percy Jackson is cleared for a 2nd season after becoming the first non-Marvel non-Star Wars hit for Disney+.
* **Password sharing** is significant and the current crackdown will be a driver for growth the 2nd half of this year.
* **Cost cuts**: Disney is set to surpass 7.5bil in cost cuts.
* **Dividend** in July up 50% and 3 billion **buyback** program.
* **Earnings forecast** for the year up 20% to 4.60 per share.
