Credit Suisse upgrades Disney with streaming strategy trumping COVID

Credit Suisse analyst Douglas Mitchelson upgraded Disney to Outperform from Neutral with a price target of $146, up from $116, following last night's fiscal Q3 results. The analyst says that while COVID-related dynamics are likely to severely impact many of Disney's businesses for some time, he's removing the 20% risk discount he applied to shares given increased visibility. Mitchelson values Disney's streaming business at $68B, saying this is "well supported" by Disney+'s performance, likely growth from the 100M new homes being launched the next few months, and the announcement of an international general entertainment streaming service launching in 2021. With new CEO Bob Chapek now indicating an "innovative and bold" further pivot to streaming, Disney shares should be "even more aggressively positioned as a streaming growth story," Mitchelson tells investors in a research note.