Disney Case Study

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Disney

        Disney was started in 1923 at the Disney Brothers Studio when Walt Disney signed a contract with M. J. Winkler to produce a series of Alice Comedies. Disney had their first feature film in 1937 which was Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.  The Disney Studio moved to Burbank, California, from the Hyperion Studio in Los Angeles in 1939. Walt Disney issued its first stock in 1940. In 1949 Walt Disney Music Company was formed. In 1954 the Emmy Award-winning Disneyland television show aired on ABC, starring Walt Disney. Disneyland, the first Disney Park, opened in Anaheim, California, to an invited audience July 17, 1955. On December 15, 1966 Walt Disney died. In 1971 Walt Disney World Resort opened with the Magic Kingdom and two hotels near Orlando, Florida. On December 20, 1971 Roy Disney co-founder of the Disney Company died.

        The 1980’s is when things really began to expand and take off with the Disney Company. Disney became international with the groundbreaking of Tokyo Disneyland on December 3, 1980. On October 1, 1982 Epcot Center opened in Walt Disney World costing the company $1 billion. April 15, 1983 Tokyo Disneyland opened its doors. April 18, 1983 The Disney Channel started broadcasting 18 hours a day. On March 24, 1987 a contract was signed to build Disneyland Paris. On March 28, 1987 the first Disney store opened. In 1989 Disney-MGM Studios and Pleasure Island opened at Walt Disney World Resort.

        On May 6, 1991 the Walt Disney Company joined the Dow Jones Industrial Average. In 1994 Disney Interactive, a division first intended to develop, market, and distribute cartridge games and CD-ROM software, was formed. In 1995 Disney purchase 25 percent of the California Angels baseball team. Also in 1995 Disney purchased ABC for $19 billion. By 2000 Disney was buying more companies to add to their expanding empire and opening parks in more countries.

        Disney has parks in California, Florida, Japan, France, Hong Kong, Shanghai and Hawaii. Disney has branched out into many forms of entertainment. They have bought and sold a baseball teams, purchased networks, started a computer software company, have numerous television channels, have many parks and resorts and still they keep growing and acquiring. Their most recent acquisition was on December 12, 2012 when they acquired Lucasfilm Ltd. LLC-the global entertainment company founded by George Lucas and the home of the legendary Star Wars franchise.

        Disney started on the Fortune 500 list in 1995 at number 108. They have been on the list every year since. The highest they have ever gotten on the list was #51 in 1998. They have consistently stayed in the 60’s for the most part for the last 13 years. Even with all the money that they have made and all of their acquisition they have not been able to break into that top 50 list.

        “The Walt Disney Company today reported record earnings for the second quarter. Diluted earnings per share (EPS) for the second quarter increased 30% to $1.08 from $0.83 in the prior-year quarter. Excluding certain items affecting comparability, EPS for the quarter increased 41% to$1.11 from $0.79 in the prior-year quarter. Diluted EPS for the six months ended March 29, 2014 was $2.11 compared to $1.60 in the prior-year period. Excluding certain items affecting comparability, EPS for the six months increased 36% to $2.15. ‘We’re extremely pleased with our results this quarter, delivering double-digit increases in operating income across all of our businesses and the highest quarterly earnings per share in the history of the Company,’ said Robert A. Iger, Chairman and CEO, The Walt Disney Company.  ‘Our continued strong performance reflects the strength of our brands, the quality of our content, and our unique ability to leverage creative success across the entire Company to drive value’.”

        Disney saw an increase Parks and Resorts revenues for the quarter. Revenue increased 8% and segment operating income increased 19%. The increase in income was due to growth in the domestic parks and resorts driven caused by increased guest spending at Walt Disney World Resort, higher attendance at Disneyland Resort and increased occupied room nights at both resorts. The higher guest spending was due to higher average ticket prices and food, beverage and merchandise spending. Operating income at the international parks and resorts was similar to the previous year. Increased guest spending and attendance at Hong Kong Disneyland Resort was offset by lower guest spending and attendance at Disneyland Paris. “Disney is like a cat: when it falls, it always ‘falls back on its feet’. In other words, it is resilient and quick to recover. As a case in point, when Euro Disney went bankrupt in 1994, amid criticisms that the theme park was too American for Europeans, management made appropriate changes to cater to local tastes and renamed the park ‘Disneyland Paris’. A couple of years later, it was reported that Disneyland Paris had more visitors annually than either Notre Dame or the Louvre (Kuisel, 2003). Walt Disney and Hong Kong reached an agreement to build a theme park in the region in 1999 (Zhang, 2007); it finally opened in 2005. In the beginning, it was not successful, but now it is getting much better (Marr, 2007). Disney has also moved to India, after making a few changes in film marketing, in an attempt to reach the country’s population aged under fourteen years of age (which is larger than the entire US population). By boosting growth in this fashion, the company has decided to expand local Indian products and films instead. Similar moves will be made in China, Russia, Latin America, and South Korea (Marr & Fowler, 2007).” (Matusitz)