Disney's new "Star Wars" movie has outsold this year's "Avengers" megahit in early ticket sales, in a record year at the box office for the Dow Jones media giant. Disney stock rose, still near the bottom of its current consolidation.
Disney-Lucasfilm's "Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker" set a record in its first hour of presales on Atom Tickets, the ticketing software company said. The final installment of the Skywalker saga debuts Dec. 20. However, presales kicked off Monday after the release of the final movie trailer.
In the first hour of availability, "Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker" sold 45% more tickets than Disney-Marvel's "Avengers: Endgame" did earlier this year. The Marvel superhero movie raked in $2.9 billion this summer to surpass "Avatar" as the top grosser of all time, not adjusted for inflation.
So far in 2019, Disney films have sold more than $8.1 billion in tickets, smashing its earlier record and accounting for nearly 40% of the U.S. box office.
Separately, Verizon (VZ) said it will offer will offer customers of unlimited plans a free year of subscription to the Disney streaming service, a blow to Netflix (NFLX). Verizon subscribers of Disney+ will get commercial-free streaming, up to four concurrent streams, and downloads for offline viewing. Disney+ debuts Nov. 12.
Disney+ costs $7 a month or $70 a year, less than a standard Netflix subscription of $13 a month.
Disney Stock Eyes Streaming Boost
Shares of the Dow Jones component added 1.6% to 132.40 in Tuesday's stock market trading. Netflix stock gave up 4.1% Tuesday. Apple stock dipped 0.2%. Verizon stock edged up a few cents.
Disney stock is 10% below a 147.25 flat-base buy point and is just above the 200-day line. The Dow Jones stock is still meeting resistance at the 50-day line. The relative strength line is right at six-month lows, reflecting Disney's underperformance vs. the S&P 500 recently after it surged in April on Disney+ plans.
Streaming investments have weighed on recent Disney earnings and Disney stock. But Walt Disney expects Disney+ to turn profitable by 2024.
Annual Disney earnings per share even have the potential to double by 2024 on growth in streaming video, led by the forthcoming Disney+, Morgan Stanley estimated in July.
JPMorgan predicted earlier this month that Disney+ will achieve 75 million global subscribers by end of fiscal 2024. Disney itself foresees 60 million to 90 million subscribers by 2024, while Morgan Stanley estimates 70 million subscribers by 2024 and 100 million in a bull case. For context, Netflix has roughly 149 million global subscribers.
The new Disney streaming service will follow the launch of Apple's (AAPL) Apple TV+ Nov. 1. Apple is offering its own promotional free year of subscription with the purchase of an Apple device.
