Walt Disney shares rebound on Monday, ‘The Lion King’ earns $185 million in its opening weekend in the US, a new July record

The Lion King, Walt Disney’s remake of its 1994 animated classic, earned an estimated $185 million during its opening weekend in the United States and set a new record for an opening in July.

The movie generated additional earnings of $269 million across the globe, which brought its total earnings to $531 million worldwide, according to a report by CNBC.

Walt Disney shares closed higher for the sixth time in the past twelve trading sessions in New York on Monday. It has also been the sharpest daily surge since July 12th. The stock went up 0.71% ($0.99) to $140.84, after touching an intraday low at $140.05 and an intraday high at $141.29.

Shares of Walt Disney Company have risen 28.45% so far in 2019 compared with a 19.07% gain for the benchmark index, S&P 500 (SPX).

In 2018, Walt Disney’s stock went up 1.99%, thus, it again outperformed the S&P 500, which registered a 6.24% loss.

Previously, the July opening weekend record belonged to Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2, which generated $169.1 million in earnings during its 2011 debut.

Walt Disney had expected about $150 million in opening weekend earnings in the US, while analysts had forecast earnings within the range of $175 million to $200 million.

“The Lion King was the perfect movie at the right time, boosting sales over the same weekend last year by 51% and giving the box office a much-needed Hakuna Matata inducing bit of box office positivity and in the process knocked the year-to-date deficit down nearly 2% in a single weekend,” Paul Dergarabedian, media analyst at Comscore, was quoted as saying by CNBC.

Analyst stock price forecast and recommendation

According to CNN Money, the 21 analysts, offering 12-month forecasts regarding Walt Disney’s stock price, have a median target of $155.00, with a high estimate of $180.00 and a low estimate of $123.00. The median estimate represents a 10.05% upside compared to the closing price of $140.84 on July 22nd.

The same media also reported that at least 17 out of 26 surveyed investment analysts had rated Walt Disney’s stock as “Buy”, while 9 – as “Hold”.