Jim Cramer Prefers Walt Disney Co (NYSE:DIS) Over Six Flags
We recently published a list of Jim Cramer’s Latest Portfolio: Top 9 Stocks to Buy and Sell. Since Walt Disney Co (NYSE:DIS) ranks 1st on the list, it deserves a deeper look.
Jim Cramer is exuberant about the Federal Reserve’s aggressive rate cut.
“Believe me, there are few things more friendly than a 50 basis point rate cut,” Cramer said in a recent program.
The CNBC host said that he has reminded his viewers repeatedly that when the Fed is your “enemy” you should stick to recession-proof stocks that can produce consistent earnings despite market slowdowns.
“Once the Fed is done tightening and we start seeing signs of impending rate cuts you need to load up on the cyclicals, the companies that see massive earnings growth when the economy accelerates,” Cramer reminded his viewers about his advice on how to play the interest-rate game.
Jim Cramer has been talking about all sorts of stocks during his latest programs. In this article we picked 9 important stocks he’s bearish/bullish on and analyzed these companies in detail. With each stock we have mentioned its hedge fund sentiment. Why are we interested in the stocks that hedge funds pile into? The reason is simple: our research has shown that we can outperform the market by imitating the top stock picks of the best hedge funds. Our quarterly newsletter’s strategy selects 14 small-cap and large-cap stocks every quarter and has returned 275% since May 2014, beating its benchmark by 150 percentage points (see more details here).
Walt Disney Co (NYSE:DIS)
Number of Hedge Fund Investors: 92
Jim Cramer was recently asked about the amusement resort company Six Flags. He said he does not like the stock and instead recommended Walt Disney Co (NYSE:DIS) in this theme.
“I actually prefer, I am not kidding, I am not joking around, I actually prefer the stock of Disney,” Cramer added.
Walt Disney Co (NYSE:DIS) bulls believe the turnaround plan of CEO Bob Iger would work, it just needs more time. With interest rates now on the decline along with inflation, the company’s theme park business can see growth as consumers begin to increase spending.
Despite the inflation storm that affected Walt Disney Co (NYSE:DIS) Experiences business, the segment has maintained a stable operating margin of 29% over the first nine months of the year, though this dipped to 26% last quarter.
Walt Disney Co (NYSE:DIS) in Q3 beat estimates and raised its outlook, as the performance was driven by a profitable streaming business. CEO Bob Iger’s leadership, combined with a $60 billion investment in parks and cruises, is expected to drive future growth.
Meridian Hedged Equity Fund stated the following regarding The Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS) in its Q2 2024 investor letter:
“The Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS) operates a diversified entertainment business with theme parks, media networks, and streaming services. We own Disney because we believe its strong brand, valuable IP, and expanding streaming offerings will drive sustainable long-term growth. The company’s stock, however, underperformed in the quarter due to concerns about a slowdown in growth at its theme park division. While park revenue still grew by 10% year-over-year, management’s commentary suggested a moderation in post-pandemic demand and rising costs, leading to a disappointing outlook for park operating income in the second half of the year. This overshadowed the positive news that the company’s streaming segment, driven by strong subscriber growth at Disney+, reached profitability ahead of schedule. We held our position and will continue to monitor the performance of the theme park division.”
Overall, Walt Disney Co (NYSE:DIS) ranks 1st on Insider Monkey’s list titled Jim Cramer’s Latest Portfolio: Top 9 Stocks to Buy and Sell. While we acknowledge the Walt Disney Co (NYSE:DIS), our conviction lies in the belief that AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns, and doing so within a shorter timeframe. If you are looking for an AI stock that is more promising than DIS but that trades at less than 5 times its earnings, check out our report about the cheapest AI stock.
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Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.