It’s a whole new world after all for Disney, as the entertainment conglomerate unveiled its dedicated streaming service, Disney+. Shares of Walt Dinsey (DIS) increased by 4.3% to 141.50 per share on the market today. The overall Dow Jones Industrial Average rose by 4%.
Experts believe the stock increase correlates to the forecasted success of its streaming service named as Disney+. Prices from April went from 112.51 to 141.85 as of this moment.
Disney+ is an upcoming American subscription service owned and operated by Walt Disney Direct-to-Consumer and International division of The Walt Disney Company. It is set to launch later this year around November.
Disney+ will compete with other video streaming subscription services such as Netflix and Amazon Prime Video. The company previously announced that streaming service would cost users $6.99 per month — a deal that is 50% cheaper than Netflix’s standard $12.99 plan.
When asked about Disney+’s $6.99 pricing during its Disney’s 2019 Investor Day in Burbank, Calif, CEO Bob Iger said, “this is our first serious foray in this space, and we want to reach as many people as possible with it.”
In an interview with Netflix’s Reed Hastings, the Netflix co-founder remained unfazed by Disney’s upcoming rivalry. “We’ve been competing with Amazon for more than ten years, so we’re used to healthy, strong competition,” the CEO stated.
“It makes us better,” Hastings robust interpolation in welcoming Disney as a competition once it starts to roll out its online streaming service later this year.
Disney+ will focus on content from the company’s brands such as Disney, Pixar, Marvel, and Star Wars. National Geographic will join Disney after the acquisition of 21st Century Fox. The service will offer subscribers access to Disney’s library of film and TV fare.
A Morgan Stanley forecast revealed that Disney+ is expected to increase in size faster than its competitor Netflix. Stock analysts also showed their confidence towards the streaming service and raised their target prices from 135 to 160 — projecting Disney+ will acquire 100 million subscribers in the year 2024.
