Disney Reopens Parks but Financial Impact Might Not Be Worth It
Walt Disney World reopened over the weekend, the same day that Florida broke a national record for new COVID-19 cases in one day. After losing $1 billion in its parks business last quarter, it’s fairly clear why the company would want to reopen its parks. Wall Street analysts, however, don’t expect opening the park will have a substantial financial impact. “We do not believe that it really matters all that much whether or not a park opens in June, July or August,” B. Riley FBR analyst Eric Wold wrote in a note to clients. “We acknowledge some benefits to getting season pass or membership holders back to the park and/or taking advantage of families increasingly staying at home. We would expect these stocks to be valued on attendance rebound expectations for 2021 and 2022 as opposed to anything to come in Q3 or Q4.” The reopening of Disney World’s Magic Kingdom was followed by the reopening of Epcot and Hollywood Studios on Wednesday, the same day that Disneyland Paris also reopened. Tokyo Disneyland reopened earlier this month, and Hong Kong Disneyland opened on June 18, before being shutdown again. Disney World, which had been closed since mid-March, opened to fanfare,...
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