There are rare companies that continue to perform year after year, while still making the right investments to continue growing for the long term. When you find a company like that, and it’s selling at a discount — that’s a stock that you want to buy and hold “forever.”
Archive for Walt Disney Company
The Walt Disney Company Acquires Minority Stake in BAMTech
The Walt Disney Company (NYSE: DIS) today announced that it is acquiring a 33% stake in BAMTech, a leading technology services and video streaming company previously formed by Major League Baseball (MLB). As part of the transaction, BAMTech was separated from MLB’s broader digital business, MLB Advanced Media (MLBAM).
Under the terms of the transaction, Disney will pay $1 billion in two installments, now and in January 2017, and has the option to acquire majority ownership in the coming years.
Disney’s investment in BAMTech – already a global leader in direct-to-consumer streaming services, data analytics and commerce management with nearly 7.5 million total paid subscribers to its clients’ OTT products – will provide capital to accelerate growth of its proprietary video-delivery platform, deliver greater flexibility to clients and develop new technologies and capabilities.
As part of the transaction, BAMTech will become a key partner for Disney in the delivery and support of streaming video and other digital products from Disney|ABC Television Group and ESPN, as well as future digital initiatives across the Company.
“Our investment in BAMTech gives us the technology infrastructure we need to quickly scale and monetize our streaming capabilities at ESPN and across our company,” said Robert A. Iger, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, The Walt Disney Company. “We look forward to working closely with BAMTech as we explore new ways to deliver the unmatched content of The Walt Disney Company across a variety of platforms.”
Commissioner of Baseball Robert D. Manfred, Jr. stated, “Every day the powerful partnership of technology and content becomes more important to consumers. We are excited to get to work with Disney and our longtime partners at ESPN in the important and ever-changing area of content distribution.”
BAMTech will also collaborate with ESPN to launch and distribute a new ESPN-branded multi-sport subscription streaming service in the future. The direct-to-consumer service will feature content provided by both BAMTech and ESPN, and include live regional, national and international sporting events.
Current content on ESPN’s linear networks will not appear on the new subscription streaming service. More details about the new service will be announced in the months ahead.
“Bringing a multi-sport service directly to fans is an exciting opportunity that capitalizes on BAMTech’s premier digital distribution platform and continues ESPN’s heritage of embracing technology to create new ways to connect fans with sports,” said John Skipper, ESPN President and Co-Chair, Disney Media Networks. “As WatchESPN continues to grow and add value to the multichannel video subscription, this new service will be an outstanding complement.”
Following Disney’s acquisition of a stake in BAMTech, the National Hockey League received a minority interest in BAMTech, as the result of a previous agreement.
Disney stock could get some zip from video streaming
Even as Walt Disney (DIS) reported positive results last week for its latest fiscal quarter, support for its stock on Wall Street has been wavering lately. Disney shares have been on the ropes since last year when they hit a 52-week high of more than $120 a share. The stock is currently trading just under $97.
The Walt Disney Company Reports Third Quarter and Nine Months Earnings for Fiscal 2016
The Walt Disney Company (NYSE: DIS) today reported quarterly earnings of $2.6 billion for its third fiscal quarter ended July 2, 2016, an increase of $114 million over the prior-year quarter. Diluted earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter increased 10% to $1.59 from $1.45 in the prior-year quarter. Excluding certain items affecting comparability(1), EPS for the quarter increased 12% to $1.62 from $1.45 in the prior-year quarter. EPS for the nine months ended July 2, 2016 increased 17% to $4.63 from $3.95 in the prior-year period. Excluding certain items affecting comparability(1), EPS for the nine months increased to $4.61 from $3.95 in the prior-year period.
The Walt Disney Company’s Accelerator Program Announces 2016 Participants
Today the Walt Disney Company announced participants in the 2016 Disney Accelerator, a program which provides entrepreneurs with mentorship and immersion into the media and entertainment industry. The three-month program connects participants from around the world with Disney’s creative expertise and resources to help them develop their products and consumer experiences.
Since the Disney Accelerator started in 2014, companies representing the cutting edge of technology and media have joined the program from across the United States, Europe, the Middle East and Asia with products that tap into a range of technologies including robotics, artificial intelligence, e-commerce, wearables, messaging and virtual reality. Past participants in the Disney Accelerator have continued to work with The Walt Disney Company after completing the program, such as, Sphero which created the BB-8 droid toy, the number one Star Wars toy in 2015. Additionally, Statmuse, an interactive sports stats platform powered by natural language search, is currently providing ESPN with statistical content, Israel-based imperson launched The Muppets’ Miss Piggy and Disney’s Zootopia chat experiences on Facebook using their artificial intelligence technology and EMOTIV’s Insight wearable for the brain was featured on ABC Television’s The Bachelor.
This year’s program includes nine startups and one internal project, and builds on Disney Accelerator’s success since its initial launch.
“We are evolving this year’s Disney Accelerator to include many later-stage start-ups, and for the first time, an internal project,” said Michael Abrams, Senior Vice President, Innovation, The Walt Disney Company. “This year’s Disney Accelerator program is designed to advance a broader spectrum of the strategic investments we make in innovation across all of our businesses.”
The companies selected for the 2016 Disney Accelerator include:
- Ader – a marketplace connecting brands with eSports and gaming influencers. The company’s network of influencers reaches over 50 million monthly viewers.
- Atom Tickets- is a new mobile, movie ticketing app where customers can buy movie tickets, pre-order concessions, invite friends without having to pay for them, easily discover new movies, browse trailers, read reviews, and plan their next night out at the movies. Atom Tickets is movie-going for the twenty-first century.
- Hanson Robotics – a leader in creating human-like robots with a full range of facial expressions. Based in Hong Kong, Hanson Robotics is building a range of robots for the business and consumer markets. The videos of its robot “Sophia” have been viewed more than one billion times.
- Jaunt – pioneering end-to-end solutions for creating and publishing immersive cinematic virtual reality, Jaunt is a leading developer of the hardware, software, tools and applications that put the power of virtual reality in the hands of some of today’s best content creators. Jaunt has raised over $100 million, and launched Jaunt China, a virtual reality joint venture with China Media Capital and Shanghai Media Group in May.
- littleBits – a platform of easy-to-use electronic building blocks that empowers kids to invent anything, from a remote controlled car to a dancing robot to a smart home device. littleBits was founded by Ayah Bdeir, Co-Founder of the Open Hardware Summit, a TED Senior Fellow and a graduate of the MIT Media Lab. On a mission to unleash the inventor in everyone and get kids excited about STEM, littleBits has raised over $60 million in funding.
- Nom – an online live streaming video community for chefs and food lovers. Nom users can create, share, watch, and participate in live videos while chatting and interacting with each other. Nom was founded by Vijay Karunamurthy, former YouTube engineering lead, and Steve Chen, Co-Founder and CTO of YouTube.
- OTOY – A “holographic content” platform bringing the power of light field rendering and network streaming to virtual reality and augmented reality experiences. OTOY’s investors include Autodesk and advisers include Eric Schmidt, Executive Chairman of Alphabet (formerly Google) and Ariel Emanuel, Co-CEO of WME|IMG.
- Playbuzz – a content-creation and audience-engagement platform that empowers tens of thousands of publishers, marketers, bloggers and brands to easily create engaging content using mobile-friendly formats that are optimized for social sharing. With headquarters in New York and Tel Aviv, Playbuzz has raised $31 million in funding.
- Pley – a leading toy subscription company that is pioneering the next generation in e-commerce for toys. For a monthly fee, members receive their preferred toys from a catalog of 500+ toys shipped directly to their door and can play with, keep or return each toy whenever they wish. Pley has raised more than $16 million in funding.
For more information go to www.DisneyAccelerator.com.
The Walt Disney Company Executives to Discuss Fiscal Third Quarter 2016 Financial Results via Webcast
The Walt Disney Company (NYSE: DIS) will discuss fiscal third quarter 2016 financial results via a live audio webcast beginning at 5:00 p.m. EDT / 2:00 p.m. PDT on Tuesday, August 9, 2016.
Results will be released after the close of regular trading on August 9, 2016.
To listen to the webcast, point your browser to www.disney.com/investors. The webcast presentation will be archived.
Disney to Acquire Stake in MLB Advanced Media for $3.5B
Media giant, The Walt Disney Company DIS is all set to purchase one-third stake in Major League Baseball’s (“MLB”) video streaming division, MLB Advanced Media, as was revealed by Bloomberg on Thursday. Sources expect the deal to be valued at nearly $3.5 billion.
THE WALT DISNEY COMPANY LAUNCHES COMPUTER SCIENCE SUMMER IMMERSION PROGRAM FOR HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS
The Walt Disney Company announced today the start of its inaugural Girls Who Code Summer Immersion Program, a seven-week coding program on the Disney campus for high school girls that will introduce them to computer science curriculum.
The Walt Disney Company to Participate in the 3rd Annual MoffettNathanson Media and Communications Summit
Bob Iger, chairman and chief executive officer, The Walt Disney Company (NYSE: DIS), will participate in a question-and-answer session at the 3rd Annual MoffettNathanson Media and Communications Summit on Wednesday, May 18, 2016 at approximately 8:00 a.m. EDT / 5:00 a.m. PDT. To listen to a live webcast of the session, please point your browser towww.disney.com/investors approximately five minutes prior to the start time. The webcast presentation will be archived.
The Walt Disney Company Reports Second Quarter and Six Months Earnings for Fiscal 2016
The Walt Disney Company (NYSE: DIS) today reported quarterly earnings of $2.1 billion for its second fiscal quarter ended April 2, 2016, an increase of $35 million over the prior-year quarter. Diluted earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter increased 6% to $1.30 from $1.23 in the prior-year quarter. Excluding certain items affecting comparability(1), EPS for the quarter increased 11% to $1.36. EPS for the six months ended April 2, 2016 increased 22% to $3.04 from $2.50 in the prior-year period. Excluding certain items affecting comparability(1), EPS for the six months increased 20%.
