Disney Earnings

Disney cashed in some of the chips it won when it played the streaming hand. The company is days away from the launch of its streaming platform, Disney+, and before new subscriptions have kicked in, the company seems to be doing well in its production business. Here are the stats:

• Earnings per share: $1.07, adjusted, vs. 95 cents expected

• Revenue: $19.1 billion vs. $19.04 billion expected

• Revenue jumped 22% to $6.5 billion at the company’s media networks and 52% to $3.3 billion at its studio entertainment division.

CEO Robert Iger has spent billions buying franchises like Avengers and Star Wars, both of which will be available to fans online with the launch of Disney+. It seems like Disney has recovered from its results in the previous quarter when it underperformed market expectations as audiences took well to The Lion King, Toy Story 4, and Aladdin.

The company’s long-awaited streaming service, Disney+ is set to launch on November 12. The service costs $6.99 per month, or $69.99 per year, and will feature content from Disney, Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars and more. Disney has already sold year-long subscriptions to its streaming service at a discount to users, and I imagine more will follow suit as franchise movies are available online.

The key question is whether this fan base will be enough to satisfy investors. Apple is not holding back in the content creation game, and I can its “The Morning Show” and “See” garnering a cult-like following akin to Game of Thrones. For a technology company, Apple has surely burnt a lot of cash to compete with Dinsey and Netflix.

What’s different for Disney is that it is already a media company that’s not really entering a new business as much as it is entering a new marketplace to expand its existing business.

Trade Talks

The United States and China have both agreed to roll back on tariffs on each other’s goods in phases as they work towards a deal.

White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow confirmed with Bloomberg that “If there’s a phase one trade deal, there are going to be tariff agreements and concessions”. While the market indices have priced in the looming optimism about settling the trade war, it’s a bad week for safe-haven investments like gold and silver.

Bond yields have risen as bond demand has decreased on account of money moving to equities as investors profit from all-time highs.