Disney's Movie Studios Are On Fire

Movie-goers can be a fickle bunch and, in some ways filmmakers are no better off than they were decades ago despite their best efforts to create films that resonate with audiences. That said, Disney's (NYSE:DIS) quartet of movie studios -- Pixar, Lucasfilm, Marvel, and Disney -- have had incredible success in recent years.

This year alone, three of the company's movie releases have broken an increasing number of records with no signs of slowing.

In spite of its sheer dominance of the industry lately, investors seem reluctant to give the movie purveyor its due. With that in mind, let's look at the highlights and low points of each studio division in recent years and what this success has done overall for the company's financial results.

Image source: Getty Images.

Walt Disney Animation Studios & Walt Disney Pictures

There was a time when it seemed Disney's animated fare could do no wrong. For the decade beginning in 1989, the studio pumped out one classic after another, with fan favorites like The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, and The Lion King. Disney fell on hard times during the first decade of the new millennium, producing forgettable fare like�The Emperor's New Groove, Atlantis: The Lost Empire, and Chicken Little.

Since 2010, however, Disney seems to have gotten its mojo back, generating such box office smashes as Frozen and Zootopia, which each garnered more than $1 billion in worldwide box office revenue. It also produced the likes of Big Hero 6, Moana, and Tangled. All told, Disney animation has generated $5.4 billion over the last decade, averaging $544 million per film.�

Disney has also had a successful string of live action remakes that began with 2010's Alice in Wonderland�and included last year's Beauty and the Beast, both of which crested over $1 billion in global ticket sales.�These eight films have generated $5.5 billion, and averaged $687 million per movie.�

Pixar

Pixar saw a rare misstep in 2015 with The Good Dinosaur, but that uncharacteristic miss was given a pass, with successes like Coco, Finding Dory, Inside Out, and Brave. In all, the movies under the Pixar banner have generated more than $12 billion in worldwide box office revenue, averaging more than $600 million in ticket sales each.�

The studio's most recent success was that of Incredibles 2, which just broke the opening weekend box office record for an animated feature, smashing Finding Dory's record set two years ago. With $182 million in ticket sales, it also took the No. 8 spot for all-time opening weekends.

Marvel-ous

Marvel Studios had already established itself as a force to be reckoned with when Disney announced it would acquire the comic book company in late 2009. The release of Iron Man the year before broke the mold for movies inspired by comic books, and set off a decade-long run that culminated with Black Panther achieving the highest ever domestic box office, with nearly $700 million in ticket sales, while Avengers: Infinity War climbed the charts with the fourth-highest worldwide box office, recently topping $2 billion. Marvel movies have seen unparalleled success, generating nearly $17 billion in box office revenue over the past decade, with an average of $888 million per entry.�

Not every Marvel entry was a chartbuster, though. The Incredible Hulk and Captain America: The First Avenger, which introduced the titular characters, only booked $263 million and $371 million, respectively.

Lucasfilm and Star Wars

Since Disney acquired Lucasfilm in late 2012, the latest films in the Star Wars saga have killed at the box office -- but not all were created equal. The first installment, Star Wars: The Force Awakens, capitalized on 20 years of pent up demand generating more than $2 billion in worldwide box office revenue -- and surging to No. 3 in all-time ticket sales. The latest entry, Solo: A Star Wars Story, has struggled to resonate with fans, taking in just $341 million at the ticket counter, thus far.

The four Star Wars films produced to date under Disney tutelage have generated $4.8 billion in box office, for a $1.2 billion average per film.

What has all this meant to the bottom line?

Revenue from Disney's Studio segment has remained fairly constant as a percentage of the company's total sales -- growing from $6.35 billion in 2011 to $8.38 billion in 2017. At the same time, its operating income has soared, growing from 7% of the total in 2011 to 16% in 2017, and quadrupling from $618 million to $2.4 billion. That growth is likely to continue this year, with more than $4 billion in ticket sales less than halfway through the year.

Data source: Disney's financial results. Chart by author.

While investors remain focused on the company's stagnant media segment, they're failing to give sufficient weight to Disney's growing, and wildly successful, film business.�

The company still has several potential box office hits waiting in the wings, with Ant-Man and the Wasp set to debut next month, a live-action reimaging of Christopher Robin of Winnie the Pooh fame, Wreck-It Ralph 2, and Mary Poppins Returns.

Disney's movie studios have been on fire in recent years, and there's no indication that will change any time soon.

Insider Selling: Twilio Inc (TWLO) CFO Sells 15,641 Shares of Stock

Twilio Inc (NYSE:TWLO) CFO Lee Kirkpatrick sold 15,641 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, June 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.13, for a total value of $924,852.33. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

Lee Kirkpatrick also recently made the following trade(s):

Get Twilio alerts: On Friday, May 18th, Lee Kirkpatrick sold 12,000 shares of Twilio stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $54.94, for a total value of $659,280.00. On Tuesday, May 15th, Lee Kirkpatrick sold 1,618 shares of Twilio stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.96, for a total value of $82,453.28. On Tuesday, April 17th, Lee Kirkpatrick sold 12,000 shares of Twilio stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.83, for a total value of $489,960.00.

Shares of Twilio traded down $1.81, reaching $59.80, during trading on Tuesday, Marketbeat reports. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 3,075,500 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,213,985. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -76.67 and a beta of -0.27. Twilio Inc has a 1-year low of $23.25 and a 1-year high of $62.34.

Twilio (NYSE:TWLO) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, May 8th. The technology company reported ($0.04) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the Zacks’ consensus estimate of ($0.07) by $0.03. The company had revenue of $129.12 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $115.92 million. Twilio had a negative return on equity of 21.88% and a negative net margin of 16.61%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 47.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted ($0.04) EPS. equities research analysts forecast that Twilio Inc will post -0.8 EPS for the current year.

TWLO has been the topic of several recent research reports. Citigroup increased their target price on Twilio to $43.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 13th. Zacks Investment Research cut Twilio from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, February 19th. Vetr cut Twilio from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $42.47 target price on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday, April 18th. Monness Crespi & Hardt began coverage on Twilio in a research report on Wednesday, April 11th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $60.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Dougherty & Co began coverage on Twilio in a research report on Tuesday, April 10th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $45.00 price objective for the company. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. The stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $43.90.

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. BlackRock Inc. raised its stake in Twilio by 7.8% in the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 4,408,663 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $168,323,000 after acquiring an additional 317,128 shares during the last quarter. Technology Crossover Management IX Ltd. purchased a new position in Twilio in the 4th quarter worth $47,599,000. Allianz Asset Management GmbH raised its stake in Twilio by 20.7% in the 1st quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 1,808,340 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $69,042,000 after acquiring an additional 310,270 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in Twilio by 27.2% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,650,883 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $38,961,000 after acquiring an additional 352,970 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raging Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Twilio in the 4th quarter worth $22,420,000. Institutional investors own 62.11% of the company’s stock.

Twilio Company Profile

Twilio Inc provides a cloud communications platform that enables developers to build, scale, and operate communications within software applications in the United States and internationally. The company's programmable communications cloud provides a set of application programming interfaces that enable developers to embed voice, messaging, and video capabilities into their applications.

FTSE 100 drops as U.S.-China trade fight intensifies

U.K. stocks dropped Tuesday, with trade tensions between the world��s two largest economies escalating after U.S. President Donald Trump ordered his administration to look for further tariffs on $200 billion in imported goods from China.

How markets are moving

The FTSE 100 index UKX, -0.53% �lost 0.8% to 7,573.72, on track for a third straight decline. The basic materials group fell by the most, and the consumer goods group was the only sector to advance. On Monday, the London benchmark slipped less than 0.1%.

The pound GBPUSD, -0.5436% �slipped to $1.3188, breaking below $1.3200 for the first time since November 2017, according to FactSet data. Sterling traded at $1.3245 late Monday in New York.

What��s driving markets

Stocks in the U.K. and the broader European equity market SXXP, -0.77% � moved sharply lower after Asian equities sold off. The Shanghai Composite SHCOMP, -3.78% �slid 3.8%, and the Shenzhen index 399106, -5.77% � tanked 5.8% in Asian trade, with losses coming after Trump threatened more tariffs on more Chinese goods. U.S. stock futures YMU8, -1.41% ESU8, -1.14% � were under heavy pressure before Wall Street��s open, with Dow futures down more than 350 points.

��Further action must be taken to encourage China to change its unfair practices, open its market to United States goods, and accept a more balanced trade relationship,�� Trump said in a statement late Monday.

Beijing, meanwhile, is threatening to impose tariffs on another batch of U.S. products if the Trump administration follows through with a second round of levies, state-run Xinhua News Agency reported.

China had previously announced plans for retaliatory tariffs on U.S. goods worth $34 billion, including soybeans, whiskey and electric cars.

What are strategists saying?

��So far the trade war has been confined to trade. The fear, however, is that it may spill over into the financial world. Specifically, China could start selling off some of its massive holdings of Treasury bonds. The country owns some $1.18 trillion of Treasuries, or 30% of all foreign official holdings of Treasuries, which is not to mention their holdings of agency bonds and others,�� said Marshall Gittler, chief strategist at ACLS Global, in a note.

��Of course, to some degree it would be shooting themselves in the foot to sell these bonds aggressively, because once the market realized what was happening, bond prices would plunge. However, U.S. mortgage rates would soar as a result, and China might feel the pain was worth it to make middle-class U.S. voters sit up and take notice,�� Gittler said.

Read: Trump��s constant threats, reversals spur investors to see him as the boy who cried ��Wolf!��

Stock movers

Mining stocks were dragged lower, as analysts have said a trade war could lead to reduced demand for industrial and precious metals, and China is the world��s largest buyer of copper.

Shares of copper producer Antofagasta PLC ANTO, -1.62% �fell 1.8%, iron ore producers BHP Billiton PLC BLT, -2.66% �and Rio Tinto PLC RIO, -2.98% �shed 2.8% and 2.5%, respectively.

Mining stocks make up 87% of the basic materials sector on the FTSE 100, and that sector carries a more than 9% weighting on the benchmark, according to FactSet data.

Off the FTSE 100, shares of Debenhams PLC DEB, -7.19% �slid 7.2%. On Tuesday, the department-store chain warned that it expects fiscal 2018 pretax profit to miss expectations as it faces increased competitor discounting and weakness in key markets.

Carla Mozee

Carla Moz茅e is a reporter for MarketWatch, based in London. Follow her on Twitter @MWMozee.

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Comment Related Topics United Kingdom London Stock Exchange London Markets Bank of England Europe European Markets Quote References UKX -40.18 -0.53% GBPUSD -0.0072 -0.5436% SXXP -2.97 -0.77% SHCOMP -114.08 -3.78% 399106 -97.60 -5.77% YMU8 -353.00 -1.41% ESU8 -31.75 -1.14% ANTO -16.50 -1.62% BLT -44.60 -2.66% RIO -127.00 -2.98% DEB -1.41 -7.19% Show all references MarketWatch Partner Center Most Popular Trump reportedly told Apple that tariffs against China would spare iPhones Chinese stocks end at 2-year low, Apple suppliers sink on trade-war worries ��Black swan�� author defends Tesla after actress posts video of car fire My new wife wanted to live with me for free, even though she had $800,000 in the bank��so I asked her to move out This is what the U.S. military��s ��Space Force�� could look like Community Guidelines �� FAQs $(function () { if (typeof dianomiUnitCallback !== 'undefined') { var dianomiCallback = new dianomiUnitCallback('belowarticle', 2582, 'dianomiBelowArticle', 'dianomi__list', 'padding:10px'); dianomiCallback.initialize('dianom