DJ Disney Stock Drops After Cowen Downgrade -- MarketWatch

Shares of Walt Disney Co. (DIS) are off more than 2% in premarket trading Thursday after Cowen & Co. analyst Doug Creutz lowered his rating on the stock to market perform from outperform and cut his price target to $97 from $101. Creutz sees a longer recovery timetable ahead for Disney's parks and film businesses as both areas could face "prolonged impacts" from COVID-19. "We believe that at best, heavy capacity constraints will prevail until at least mid-2021, and believe there is a meaningful probability that the park could be forced to close again," Creutz wrote of Walt Disney World. "Disneyland remains closed and we expect that to persist due to California's more cautious approach in dealing with the virus." He now estimates that the company won't see fiscal 2019 park profit levels again until fiscal 2021. On the film side of the business, Creutz anticipates that domestic movie theaters will be "largely closed" until the middle of 2021, meaning that studios will be hesitant to release new titles. Disney shares have risen 19% over the past three months as the Dow Jones Industrial Average has gained 14%.

-Emily Bary

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July 16, 2020 07:29 ET (11:29 GMT)

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