By Dhirendra Tripathi
Investing.com – Disney stock (NYSE:DIS) fell 2.3% Tuesday after Wells Fargo (NYSE:WFC) cut the price target for the stock to $203 while maintaining an overweight rating.
The new target, which is $13 lower from the previous one, is still 16% higher than the stock’s current price.
Analyst Steven Cahall, while maintaining his confidence in the company, said the price target needed to be lowered as the brokerage resets its subscriber numbers for the streaming giant in view of recent comments made by Disney CEO Bob Chapek.
While retaining his “bullish and confident outlook” about long-term subscriber growth, Chapek told an investor conference recently that he expected an increase only in the “low single-digit millions of subscribers” for its at-home streaming service Disney+ in the ongoing quarter.
According to reports, the Wells Fargo analyst cut his 2024 Disney+ subscriber estimate to 236 million from 256 million against company’s guidance of 230 million to 260 million subscribers. He estimates total Disney streaming users to touch 335 million compared to a guidance of 300 million to 350 million.
The company had closed the third quarter ended July 3 with a paid subscriber base of 173.7 million across its Disney+, EPSN+ and Hulu platforms.
“Now at the lower end of the Disney+ long-term guidance, we expect investors to wonder if it’s a risky bar,” Cahall concluded.