The Key to Disney's Dominance

By Travis Hoium – Nov 15, 2013 at 9:00PM

NYSE: DIS

Walt Disney

Market Cap

$207B

Today's Change

(-1.01%) -$1.15

Current Price

$112.77

Price as of April 25, 2024, 4:00 p.m. ET

Disney is known for box office hits, and networks like ESPN, but its theme parks are really what makes it different from Time Warner or Comcast's NBC Universal.

Disney (DIS -1.01%) has long been known for its box office movies and media networks, but the real driver of the company outperforming rivals is its theme parks. These parks create a waterfall effect, allowing Disney to generate revenue from the box office, home theater, toy sales, TV networks, and finally, theme parks. In fact, this is Disney's second-biggest business behind networks.

Time Warner (TWX) and Comcast's (NASDAQ: CMCSK) NBC Universal just don't have the same exposure to these downstream profit generators as Disney. Long term, this is how Disney can buy franchises like Marvel, Pixar, and Lucasfilm, staying ahead in the race to build the next great characters.

Erin Miller sat down with Fool contributor Travis Hoium to see how big a deal this theme park business is to Disney.

Erin Miller owns shares of Walt Disney. Fool contributor Travis Hoium has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool recommends Walt Disney. The Motley Fool owns shares of Walt Disney. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.