MORGAN STANLEY: Disney's ESPN problem isn't a problem at all (DIS)

pulse

April 21, 2017 4:21 PM

Morgan Stanley says ESPN will actually drive Disney earnings higher going forward.

ESPN sports anchor Lindsay Czarniak interviews Ben Zobrist #18 of the Chicago Cubs, Kris Bryant #17 of the Chicago Cubs and Anthony Rizzo #44 of the Chicago Cubs during Gatorade All-Star Workout Day

In the summer of 2015, shares of Disney tumbled 24%, from $120 to $91, on concerns that the company would lose revenue as a result of customers "cutting the cord."

The worries were specifically focused on ESPN, one of Disney's most profitable properties, which represents 70% of its cable segment. Cable accounts for 35%-40% of Disney earnings and is consumed mostly through traditional cable subscriptions.

While most investors would say that Disney has rallied "in spite" of its ESPN woes, Morgan Stanley equity analyst Benjamin Swinburne has taken a contrarian point of view. In a note circulated to clients April 20, Swinburne concludes that ESPN will actually drive Disney earnings higher going forward.

"Relative to consensus estimates, however, we see more upside than risk to ESPN due to 1) stabilizing volume trends from new streaming bundles and 2) potential pricing upside from upcoming carriage renewals with traditional distributors," Swinburne wrote.

"A reasonable ESPN bull case could deliver +10% upside from our base case Cable segment EBIT by FY2020, implying +7% Cable EBIT CAGR over the next four years (FY17-FY20) vs. our +4% base case," Swinburne says. "

Swinburne reminds investors that "cord cutting" may not be as detrimental to Disney as previously thought because of the rise of streaming video "skinny" and "virtual" bundles, which are smaller packages consumers can purchase through providers, some of which stream over the internet.

Swinburne predicts ESPN will have 3 million virtual subscribers by the end of 2017.

Morgan Stanley is raising its price target on Disney from $124 to $130 and maintaining its "Outperform" rating.

Click here for a real-time Disney chart.

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