Disney Q4 Earnings Awaited Amidst Flat Stock Trading

Walt Disney Company (NYSE: DIS) is set to print its fourth-quarter financial results after the market closes Wednesday. The stock was trading mostly flat heading into the event.

When the entertainment giant printed its third-quarter results on Aug. 9, the stock was highly volatile the following day, gapping up slightly before retracing significantly and then closing up 4.41%.

For the third quarter, Disney reported adjusted EPS of $1.03 on revenue of $22.33 billion. The company beat the EPS estimate of 97 cents but missed the revenue estimate of $22.48 billion.

For the fourth quarter, analysts estimate Disney will print earnings per share of 68 cents on revenues of $20.13 billion. Traders and investors will be watching closely to see whether Disney has been able to continue growing its Disney+ segment. Read More Here…

On Oct. 10, JPMorgan analyst Philip Cusick maintained an Overweight rating on Disney and lowered the price target from $125 to $120. The new price target suggests 42% upside for Disney.

From a technical analysis perspective, Disney’s stock looks bullish heading into the event, having developed a possible bull flag pattern on the daily chart. It should be noted that holding stocks or options over an earnings print is akin to gambling because stocks can react bullishly to an earnings miss and bearishly to an earnings beat.

The Disney Chart: Disney’s possible bull flag pattern has printed between Oct. 27 and Wednesday, with the upward-sloping pole formed over the first six trading days of that time frame and the flag forming since then. If the pattern is recognized, the measured move is about 8.5%, which suggests Disney could surge toward the $91 mark.

• Disney is trading above the 50-day simple moving average (SMA) and the eight-day and 21-day exponential moving averages (EMAs). The eight-day EMA recently crossed above the 21-day, which is bullish and may give bullish traders more confidence going forward.
• If Disney receives a positive reaction to its earnings print and rises, the stock is likely to find resistance at the 200-day SMA. If the stock suffers a bearish reaction to its earnings print, the possible double top pattern that was printed near the $86 mark on Oct. 17 and Nov. 3 is likely to play out, which will negate the flag.
• Disney has resistance above at $92.71 and at $100.90 and support below at $80.17 and at $79.07.

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