The Walt Disney Co. is a global entertainment company. The company owns and leverages well-known brands, ranging from Mickey Mouse and 'Frozen' to ESPN and ABC. Disney acquired the animated movie producer Pixar Animation Studios in 2006, comic book and movie producer Marvel Entertainment in 2010, 'Star Wars' originator Lucasfilm in 2012, streaming video technology platform BAMTech (now Disney Streaming Services) in 2017, the assets of 21st Century Fox in March 2019, most of Hulu in May 2019, and the final piece of Hulu in November 2023. Disney derives 19% of its revenue from outside of the Americas.

The market took a much-needed rest on Wednesday, which is a technical a positive. The last thing we need is a parabolic, blow-off move. While the rally was only four days, investors may have been chasing returns. The best action that can endure for the longest time is a simple crawl higher (never too hot or too cold). Parabolic advances typically are ending moves (just look at what happened to metals, crypto currencies, and some semiconductor stocks this year).

Disney operates in three global business segments: entertainment, sports, and experiences. Entertainment and experiences both benefit from the firm’s ownership of iconic franchises and characters. Entertainment includes the ABC broadcast network, several cable television networks, and the Disney+ and Hulu streaming services. Within the segment, Disney also engages in movie and television production and distribution, with content licensed to movie theaters, other content providers, or, increasingly, kept in-house for use on Disney’s own streaming platform and television networks. The sports segment houses the ESPN family of TV networks and streaming services. Experiences contains Disney’s theme parks, cruises, and vacation destinations and also engages in merchandise licensing.

Paramount Skydance operates in three global business segments: TV media, filmed entertainment, and direct to consumer. The TV media business includes television production studios and various broadcast and cable networks, including CBS, 15 owned CBS affiliates, Paramount, Nickelodeon, MTV, BET, and VH1. Filmed entertainment consists of multiple film studios, most importantly Paramount Pictures. The film studios produce and distribute movies that they license to movie theaters and other media outlets. Direct to consumer includes the Paramount+, Pluto TV, and BET+ streaming services. Much of the content on Paramount’s streaming platforms is created by the production studios housed within the firm’s other two business segments.