Publications
Publications
- August 2024
- HBS Case Collection
The Walt Disney Company: Management Guidance
By: Joseph Pacelli and James Weber
Abstract
In November 2023, financial analyst Aurora Fee was forecasting The Walt Disney Company’s earnings and stock price, with the goal of providing an investment recommendation to her clients. Disney, one of the world’s largest media and entertainment companies, had just held its fourth-quarter earnings conference call with analysts and investors. On the call, Disney executives had provided management guidance and Fee wondered how to incorporate such guidance into her forecasts. In recent years, Disney had provided guidance relating to its projected subscriber growth and profitability for its direct-to-consumer Disney+ video streaming service. Disney+ was a key part of Disney’s growth strategy. In May 2023, however, a union pension fund, which owned Disney stock, filed a lawsuit against Disney claiming that since December 2020 Disney had knowingly provided false guidance relating to the growth of Disney+. The case provides a background on Disney, details the claims made in the lawsuit, and provides data to allow students to perform their own forecasts and generate their own investment recommendation.
Keywords
Valuation; Accounting; Investment; Communication; Forecasting and Prediction; Business Earnings; Growth and Development Strategy; Financial Services Industry; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; United States
Citation
Pacelli, Joseph, and James Weber. "The Walt Disney Company: Management Guidance." Harvard Business School Case 125-027, August 2024.