Walt Disney (DIS -0.83%) enters the final seven months of 2023 as sleepy as one of Snow White's housemates. The stock is up a mere 1% through the first five months of the year, and the shares are now trading lower than they were when Bob Iger returned as CEO in late November.
It's the start of the summer travel season for Disney's theme parks and cruise line. The House of Mouse will also wrap up its fiscal third quarter by the end of June, even though investors will have to wait until early August for the actual results. When it comes to individual dates, it's big Disney films and a highly anticipated Disney+ arrival that investors should be keeping an eye on this month. Let's take a closer look at the moments that could wake up Disney's drowsy stock.
June 16
Disney has been breathing new life into the multiplex industry. The media giant's studio is responsible for five of the six strongest domestic opening weekends since November of last year. An interesting distinction here is that none of them are from Disney's iconic animation studio.
Disney's full-length animated features have largely disappointed lately. It's not the studio behind this year's top draw, The Super Mario Bros. Movie. None of the top three animated films of 2022 -- Minions: The Rise of Gru, Sonic the Hedgehog 2, and Puss in Boots: The Last Wish -- are Disney's handiwork. Its two big releases last year were disappointments at the box office, as Lightyear failed to meet initial expectations and Strange World was an outright bomb.
Hope springs eternal that Disney animators will get back on track, and this month investors are focused on Elemental. The new Pixar film follows the courtship of two very different elements in a world where fire, water, land, and air residents live together. It opens in two weeks.
Image source: Getty Images.
June 21
Marvel has been a hit factory since Disney acquired the comic book giant for just $4 billion in 2009. Unlike Disney's feature animation segment, Marvel movies are still box office gold. Disney has also tapped Marvel franchises for hit shows on Disney+. The next Marvel miniseries to hit Disney's premium streaming service is Secret Invasion.
The name might not ring a bell outside of diehard comic books fans, but it stars Samuel Jackson as Nick Fury leading a team of allies to thwart a "secret invasion" of Earth before it's too late. The cast features some surprising critically acclaimed actors including Olivia Colman and Ben Mendelsohn. Emilia Clarke -- yes, Khaleesi from Game of Thrones -- is also part of the six-episode series.
Content matters. With Iger mentioning on Disney's May earnings call that he plans to raise prices for the ad-free version of Disney+, every big-budget television production has to be a hit. And with Iger also looking to shave $3 billion a year in content costs across the entire company, it's also critical that the projects that live to see the light of day are popular.
June 30
If Elemental doesn't woo audiences it's fair to say that Disney will still have a huge hit at the local multiplex this month. Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny hits the silver screen on the final day of June. It's been 15 years since the last Indiana Jones movies came out. It will be the first movie in the series since Disney acquired Lucasfilm in 2012.
Disney's purchase of Lucasfilm has naturally led to new movies, shows, and even theme park attractions based on the classic Star Wars franchise. Now the media stock finally gets around to tapping the second largest franchise in the Lucasfilm catalog. It should be a huge draw, keeping Disney's run of big opening weekends going for movie fans and shareholders alike.
