Might iMickey quickly be a actuality?
Laura Martin, a Wall Street senior analyst for funding financial institution Needham, believes that Apple may purchase Disney in a mega-merger that will give new that means to the time period “Magic Mouse.”
In a analysis report, Martin wrote that the businesses “are value extra collectively than individually.”
“Combining Apple’s distribution footprint of 1.25 billion distinctive prospects with Disney’s 570 million customers reached annually would drive 15% to 25% valuation upside for Apple shareholders,” she famous.
The full valuation could be round $631 billion based mostly on its present $2.5 trillion market capitalization, in line with Markets Insider.
Martin mentioned that Apple and Disney are “complementary” and that combining their two strengths may give them superpowers.
“What Apple does finest is distribute content material globally to 2 billion high-end cell units owned by 1.25 billion distinctive and rich customers. And what Disney does finest is create AAA content material franchises, which is distributes globally throughout all screens, in addition to within the bodily world,” Martin wrote.
Martin additionally identified that each corporations are “advertising and marketing juggernauts,” in a position to cost premium costs to their rabid fan bases.
Not their first dance
Apple and Disney have had a protracted historical past of working nicely collectively. When Apple launched the video iPod, Disney was one of many first corporations to offer their shows on the platform. Disney additionally famously purchased Pixar, which was helmed by Apple’s legendary founder Steve Jobs. Iger and Jobs had been good mates.
However good relations don’t a merger make. Rumors of the 2 corporations coming collectively have been squelched prior to now.
Bob Iger, the newly reanointed Disney CEO, mentioned in a City Corridor final yr that he had no plans to merge with Apple.
“What you have examine in that regard is simply pure hypothesis,” Iger mentioned.
Nonetheless, analysts like Martin imagine {that a} merger is crucial in a extremely aggressive market.
“I believe Apple is doing a really mediocre job of streaming. They only mentioned they had been going to do a billion {dollars} in movie financing. That is type of laughable, as a result of these corporations which are competing in content material companies are spending $30 billion a yr. Even Netflix is spending $20 billion a yr,” Martin told CNBC earlier today.
“Guess what the Walt Disney Firm has: 100 years of among the finest mental property, characters, and movie franchises on earth. So to personal that in perpetuity would truly decrease Apple’s value.”
