Shares of Walt Disney Company registered their largest daily drop since August 2015 on Tuesday following news that cable giant Comcast Corp had proposed $31 billion to acquire Sky Plc and, thus, endangering a plan by Rupert Murdoch’s Twenty-First Century Fox and Disney to take control of the European pay-TV group.
Walt Disney shares closed lower for the first time in the past four trading sessions on Tuesday. It has been the steepest daily loss since August 20th 2015. The stock went down 4.50% ($4.94) to $104.87, after touching an intraday low at $104.86, or a price level not seen since February 15th ($103.93).
In the week ended on February 25th the shares of the entertainment company added 0.68% to their market value compared to a week ago, which marked a second consecutive period of gains.
However, due to yesterdays slump, the stock has neutralized earlier advance and is now down 3.48% so far during the current month, following a 1.08% surge in January. The latter has been a third consecutive month of gains.
For the entire past year, the shares of the NYSE-listed company gained 3.16% following a 0.82% retreat in 2016.
Comcast reportedly offered GBP 12.50 per share for Sky Plc, while outbidding Murdochs Fox, which had agreed to pay GBP 10.75 per share for the largest pay-TV group in Europe.
In a separate follow-up deal, Walt Disney had agreed to acquire Sky from Fox, including other assets, for $52 billion.
Comcasts move could now urge Fox to boost its offer for Sky or Walt Disney to make a direct offer of its own for the pay-TV group.
Meanwhile, Walt Disney said it intended to invest as much as EUR 2 billion in the expansion of its Disneyland Paris theme park. The spending plan was unveiled by Disney CEO Bob Iger after he met French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris.
Iger said the plan reflected the media group’s growing confidence in the European economy and, more specifically, France.
“The expansion plan is one of the most ambitious development projects at Disneyland Paris since its opening in 1992 and underscores the company’s commitment to the long-term success of the resort as Disney’s brand beacon in Europe”, Walt Disney said in a statement, cited by Reuters.
The parks development is expected to include 3 new areas and is to be carried out in stages, beginning in 2021.
The 2 230-hectare Disneyland Paris is the most visited theme park in Europe, as it accounts for over 6% of France’s tourism income and employs almost 16 000 people.
According to CNN Money, the 26 analysts, offering 12-month forecasts regarding Walt Disney’s stock price, have a median target of $123.00, with a high estimate of $144.00 and a low estimate of $90.00. The median estimate is a 17.29% surge compared to the closing price of $104.87 on February 27th.
The same media also reported that 16 out of 27 surveyed investment analysts had rated Walt Disney’s stock as “Buy”, while 8 – as “Hold”. On the other hand, 2 analysts had recommended selling the stock.
Daily and Weekly Pivot Levels
With the help of the Camarilla calculation method, todays levels of importance for the Walt Disney stock are presented as follows:
R1 – $105.17
R2 – $105.46
R3 (Range Resistance – Sell) – $105.76
R4 (Long Breakout) – $106.65
R5 (Breakout Target 1) – $107.68
R6 (Breakout Target 2) – $108.10
S1 – $104.57
S2 – $104.28
S3 (Range Support – Buy) – $103.98
S4 (Short Breakout) – $103.09
S5 (Breakout Target 1) – $102.06
S6 (Breakout Target 2) – $101.64
By using the traditional method of calculation, the weekly levels of importance for Walt Disney Company (DIS) are presented as follows:
Central Pivot Point – $106.58
R1 – $108.23
R2 – $109.21
R3 – $110.86
R4 – $112.51
S1 – $105.60
S2 – $103.95
S3 – $102.97
S4 – $101.99
TradingPedia.com is a financial media specialized in providing daily news and education covering Forex, equities and commodities. Our academies for traders cover 
