A Wall Street analyst explains why 10 million Disney Plus subscribers is the magic number that could supercharge the company's stock (DIS)

Daniel Strauss

September 11, 2019 10:27 PM

Disney's stock slumped yesterday after Apple announced its upcoming streaming service would cost just $4.99, much lower than its future competitors.

disney plus

But if Disney can attract 10 million subscribers to Disney Plus by the end of the year, it could mark an "inflection point" for the stock, according to Credit Suisse.
Investors surveyed by the firm expect shares could reach as much as $155 an 11% premium from current prices if Disney Plus can hits 10 million subscribers.
Watch Disney trade live .

Apple is coming for Disney Plus , but investors are still see the media conglomerate's upcoming streaming platform as a catalyst for share gains, according to Credit Suisse.

Investors surveyed by the firm expect Disney's shares could rise as high as $155 if the company can attract 10 million subscribers to Disney Plus by the end of the year. That price represents an 11% premium from where Disney traded on Wednesday afternoon.

"The 10m subscriber level seems to be an inflection point for sentiment; 70% of investors would start new positions or add to existing ones there," Credit Suisse analyst Douglas Mitchelson said in a note to clients on Wednesday.

The firm said, on average, investors are expecting Disney Plus to hit 7 million subscribers by the end of the year and for the service to grow to 17 million in 2020.

Credit Suisse's survey also found that investors believe Disney is pricing in 6 million subscribers at $135 per share, and 8 million at $145.

"The Disney+ launch is broadly expected to be a catalyst," Mitchelson said.

Critics of Disney have argued in the past that the company still has a legacy media networks business that remains vulnerable to cord cutting. The push toward streaming with Disney Plus is widely viewed as an effort to leverage the company's expansive content library and to diversify away from its media networks segment.

Shares of Disney are up 23.6% year-to-date.

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