mangolass
08-16-2005, 10:21 PM
~ fool.com has some news articles about Disney and DreamWorks ~ maybe some of their news has already been discussed on cgtalk but it is good to hear opinions and predictions from the money perspective ~
Disney's Not-So-Valiant Retreat (http://www.fool.com/News/mft/2005/mft05081603.htm?source=eptyholnk303100&logvisit=y&npu=y)
How much has the Disney brand slipped when it comes to theatrical animation? However low you may be thinking, set your sights lower still. Over the weekend, I caught a trailer for Valiant, a computer-rendered flick about wartime birds that is set to open nationwide on Friday. "From the producer of Shrek and Shrek II," went the introduction. It wasn't until the very end that the Disney name showed up on the screen.
Yes, it's gotten that bad. By pitching a pair of blockbuster flicks put out by rival studio DreamWorks Animation (NYSE: DWA) (http://quote.fool.com/uberdata.asp?symbols=DWA) and burying its own mention as the film's distributor, Disney seemed as if it were trying to trick moviegoers into checking the movie out.
Disney's apparent desire to talk down its presence in computer animation comes after the company dismantled the last of its hand-drawn-animation studios earlier this summer.
Dream On, DreamWorks (http://www.fool.com/News/mft/2005/mft05081223.htm?source=eptyholnk303100&logvisit=y&npu=y)
Guessing how much movies will make is certainly an art that, so far, no person has perfected. The upcoming Wallace & Gromit clay-animated film, featuring the cheese-loving Wallace and the faithful canine Gromit, should be particularly well-received in foreign markets. But will it be box office gold? That's not expected. The gold standard for DreamWorks Animation is Shrek. The next installment of that franchise is due in May 2007, which is when the earnings estimates should really get interesting again.
Look at it this way. Marvel (NYSE: MVL) (http://quote.fool.com/uberdata.asp?symbols=MVL) has Spider-Man, MGM has James Bond, and fellow Motley Fool Stock Advisor recommendation Time Warner's (NYSE TWX) Warner Brother's unit has Harry Potter. These franchises are rare, but, oh, are they dreamily lucrative.
DreamWorks has taken a big fall. It may slide still more as investors look at the earnings prospects for this year and 2006. But when Shrek 3 comes to town, the dream of cash riches will once again be the talk of the investment community. All said, it's my opinion that DreamWorks stock currently prices at something of premium (on a forward multiple basis), no doubt in part based upon Shrek 2's hefty delivery. The question investors need to ask is whether Shrek 3 or anything else can deliver on such a scale as to justify the current valuation.
LT
Disney's Not-So-Valiant Retreat (http://www.fool.com/News/mft/2005/mft05081603.htm?source=eptyholnk303100&logvisit=y&npu=y)
How much has the Disney brand slipped when it comes to theatrical animation? However low you may be thinking, set your sights lower still. Over the weekend, I caught a trailer for Valiant, a computer-rendered flick about wartime birds that is set to open nationwide on Friday. "From the producer of Shrek and Shrek II," went the introduction. It wasn't until the very end that the Disney name showed up on the screen.
Yes, it's gotten that bad. By pitching a pair of blockbuster flicks put out by rival studio DreamWorks Animation (NYSE: DWA) (http://quote.fool.com/uberdata.asp?symbols=DWA) and burying its own mention as the film's distributor, Disney seemed as if it were trying to trick moviegoers into checking the movie out.
Disney's apparent desire to talk down its presence in computer animation comes after the company dismantled the last of its hand-drawn-animation studios earlier this summer.
Dream On, DreamWorks (http://www.fool.com/News/mft/2005/mft05081223.htm?source=eptyholnk303100&logvisit=y&npu=y)
Guessing how much movies will make is certainly an art that, so far, no person has perfected. The upcoming Wallace & Gromit clay-animated film, featuring the cheese-loving Wallace and the faithful canine Gromit, should be particularly well-received in foreign markets. But will it be box office gold? That's not expected. The gold standard for DreamWorks Animation is Shrek. The next installment of that franchise is due in May 2007, which is when the earnings estimates should really get interesting again.
Look at it this way. Marvel (NYSE: MVL) (http://quote.fool.com/uberdata.asp?symbols=MVL) has Spider-Man, MGM has James Bond, and fellow Motley Fool Stock Advisor recommendation Time Warner's (NYSE TWX) Warner Brother's unit has Harry Potter. These franchises are rare, but, oh, are they dreamily lucrative.
DreamWorks has taken a big fall. It may slide still more as investors look at the earnings prospects for this year and 2006. But when Shrek 3 comes to town, the dream of cash riches will once again be the talk of the investment community. All said, it's my opinion that DreamWorks stock currently prices at something of premium (on a forward multiple basis), no doubt in part based upon Shrek 2's hefty delivery. The question investors need to ask is whether Shrek 3 or anything else can deliver on such a scale as to justify the current valuation.
LT