Streaming service Disney+ added 11.8 million subscribers for the quarter
Walt Disney Co (NYSE:DIS) is up 5.7% at $155.61 at last check, after the company reported better-than-expected fiscal first-quarter earnings of $1.06 per share on $21.82 billion in revenue. The media name noted strength in its Disney+ streaming service, which added 11.8 million subscribers for the quarter, with CEO Bob Chapek adding that the company expects up to 260 million subscribers by 2024. Plus, Disney is enjoying tailwinds from a return to its theme parks, hotels and cruises.
The equity earned three price-target hikes earlier, including one from Guggenheim to $172 from $165. Meanwhile, J.P. Morgan Securities lowered its price objective to $200. Of the 18 analysts covering DIS, 14 call it a "buy" or better, and the 12-month consensus target price of $190.73 is a 22.6% premium to current levels.
Walt Disney stock has been in recovery mode since hitting a Jan. 24, annual low of $129.26. Today's surge has the shares eyeing their first close above the 60-day moving average since November, though the trendline first began pressuring the security lower back in late September. Longer term, DIS remains down 18.4% year-over-year, though.
Options traders have been quick to jump in on the action. Just in the first half hour of trading, 88,000 calls and 51,000 puts have already exchanged hands, or nine times the intraday average. Most popular by far is the weekly 2/11 160-strike call, followed by 155-strike call in the same series, with positions being opened at both.