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Disney's (DIS) Black Widow Hits the Right Chord With Viewers
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The Walt Disney’s (DIS - Free Report) latest movie, Marvel’s Black Widow, has garnered an estimated $215 million in the opening weekend. The movie generated $80 million in domestic box office, making it the largest opening weekend since the pandemic began.
Black Widow also witnessed the largest domestic opening since Star Wars Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker in December 2019.
The long-anticipated movie, which deals with the origin story of Black Widow or Natasha Romanoff, is the only movie to garner more than $100 million on opening in theaters and Disney+ Premier Access, on a combined basis. From Disney+ Premier Access, the movie generated more than $60 million.
As a Marvel Cinematic Universe origin story, Black Widow generated the third highest domestic opening weekend, trailing Black Panther and Captain Marvel. From the international box office, Black Widow garnered $75 million.
Black Widow’s success bodes well for Disney’s Theatrical Distribution revenues. The company has a strong slate of movies, including Free Guy (Aug 13), Shang Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (Sep 3), The King’s Man (Dec 22), Deep Water (Jan 14, 2022)and Death on the Nile (Feb 11, 2022).
Moreover, growing popularity of Disney+, owing to a strong content portfolio and a cheaper bundle offering, is expected to drive the top line. Availability in the Nordics, Latin America and other Asian territories will help Disney+ in further expanding its user base.
The service faces significant competition in the streaming space from the likes of Netflix (NFLX - Free Report) , Amazon prime video, Apple’s (AAPL - Free Report) Apple TV+, Comcast’s (CMCSA - Free Report) Peacock and HBO Max.
Disney+, as of Apr 3, 2021, had 103.6 million paid subscribers compared with 33.5 million as of Mar 28, 2020. The company remains on track to achieve its prior guidance of 230-260 million paid subscribers by the end of fiscal 2024.
Sports Streaming Focus Aids Prospects
Disney’s focus on sports streaming, particularly Live Sports, is also expected to drive growth. Its sports streaming service, ESPN+, currently offers tournaments like UFC Lightweight Championship, Major League Baseball (MLB), National Hockey League (NHL), Major League Soccer, Grand Slam tennis, Italy’s Serie A soccer, and other live sporting events, series and documentaries.
ESPN+ had 13.8 million paid subscribers at the end of the fiscal second quarter compared with 7.9 million at the end of the year-ago quarter.
The recently inked partnership with NHL allows Disney to stream 75 of the league’s live national games exclusively on ESPN+ and Hulu. Also, ESPN+ will be the sole home for more than 1,000 out-of-market NHL games. Renewal of MLB sports rights deal through 2028 and agreement with Spanish club football’s first division, La Liga, further strengthens Disney’s sports content offerings.
Disney is now planning to raise annual and monthly annual subscription fees of ESPN+ in the United States. Per Reuters, the monthly price will increase by $1 to $6.99 and the annual price by $10 to $69.99. The solid sports streaming lineup, along with higher subscription fees, is expected to drive this Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) company’s top line. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
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Disney's (DIS) Black Widow Hits the Right Chord With Viewers
The Walt Disney’s (DIS - Free Report) latest movie, Marvel’s Black Widow, has garnered an estimated $215 million in the opening weekend. The movie generated $80 million in domestic box office, making it the largest opening weekend since the pandemic began.
Black Widow also witnessed the largest domestic opening since Star Wars Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker in December 2019.
The long-anticipated movie, which deals with the origin story of Black Widow or Natasha Romanoff, is the only movie to garner more than $100 million on opening in theaters and Disney+ Premier Access, on a combined basis. From Disney+ Premier Access, the movie generated more than $60 million.
As a Marvel Cinematic Universe origin story, Black Widow generated the third highest domestic opening weekend, trailing Black Panther and Captain Marvel. From the international box office, Black Widow garnered $75 million.
Black Widow’s success bodes well for Disney’s Theatrical Distribution revenues. The company has a strong slate of movies, including Free Guy (Aug 13), Shang Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (Sep 3), The King’s Man (Dec 22), Deep Water (Jan 14, 2022) and Death on the Nile (Feb 11, 2022).
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Moreover, growing popularity of Disney+, owing to a strong content portfolio and a cheaper bundle offering, is expected to drive the top line. Availability in the Nordics, Latin America and other Asian territories will help Disney+ in further expanding its user base.
The service faces significant competition in the streaming space from the likes of Netflix (NFLX - Free Report) , Amazon prime video, Apple’s (AAPL - Free Report) Apple TV+, Comcast’s (CMCSA - Free Report) Peacock and HBO Max.
Disney+, as of Apr 3, 2021, had 103.6 million paid subscribers compared with 33.5 million as of Mar 28, 2020. The company remains on track to achieve its prior guidance of 230-260 million paid subscribers by the end of fiscal 2024.
Sports Streaming Focus Aids Prospects
Disney’s focus on sports streaming, particularly Live Sports, is also expected to drive growth. Its sports streaming service, ESPN+, currently offers tournaments like UFC Lightweight Championship, Major League Baseball (MLB), National Hockey League (NHL), Major League Soccer, Grand Slam tennis, Italy’s Serie A soccer, and other live sporting events, series and documentaries.
ESPN+ had 13.8 million paid subscribers at the end of the fiscal second quarter compared with 7.9 million at the end of the year-ago quarter.
The recently inked partnership with NHL allows Disney to stream 75 of the league’s live national games exclusively on ESPN+ and Hulu. Also, ESPN+ will be the sole home for more than 1,000 out-of-market NHL games. Renewal of MLB sports rights deal through 2028 and agreement with Spanish club football’s first division, La Liga, further strengthens Disney’s sports content offerings.
Disney is now planning to raise annual and monthly annual subscription fees of ESPN+ in the United States. Per Reuters, the monthly price will increase by $1 to $6.99 and the annual price by $10 to $69.99. The solid sports streaming lineup, along with higher subscription fees, is expected to drive this Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) company’s top line. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.