NEW YORK, Dec. 27, 2025, 2:11 p.m. ET — Market closed (weekend).
The Walt Disney Company (NYSE: DIS) heads into the final stretch of the year with U.S. equity markets shut for the weekend and liquidity still thin after the Christmas holiday. Disney shares last closed Friday at $113.56, down 0.8%, after trading between $113.27 and $114.74. [1]
With the NYSE and Nasdaq closed Saturday, investors are largely in “headline-watching” mode—looking for catalysts that could shape Monday’s open, as the broader market remains near record levels in what strategists often call the “Santa Claus rally” window. [2]
Market backdrop: Thin post-holiday trade, big year-end levels
Friday’s session was muted: the Dow slipped 0.04%, the S&P 500 eased 0.03%, and the Nasdaq fell 0.09%, according to Reuters, as light post-holiday volume limited conviction. [3]
Looking into the week ahead, Reuters reported the S&P 500 was about 1% from 7,000 and on track for its eighth straight month of gains—a setup that can keep momentum traders engaged but also leaves stocks sensitive to any surprise catalysts in thin year-end conditions. [4]
That dynamic matters for Disney stock because DIS often trades as a “macro plus fundamentals” name: investors weigh discretionary spending trends (parks and experiences), ad-market conditions (sports and entertainment), and the company’s streaming trajectory—all against the risk-on/risk-off tone of the broader tape.
The freshest Disney-related headline: A $6 billion box office milestone
The most notable Disney-specific news in the last 24–48 hours isn’t from streaming or the parks—it’s from the studio.
Variety (ANZ edition) reported Friday that Disney surpassed $6 billion in global box office ticket sales, its first time clearing that level since COVID-era disruptions. The outlet highlighted major contributors including “Lilo & Stitch” ($1.03 billion) and “Zootopia 2” ($1.3 billion and counting), along with “Avatar: Fire and Ash” ($450 million after about a week of release). [5]
For equity investors, box office headlines can seem secondary to streaming profitability and parks margins—but the market often cares about what box office signals: brand heat, franchise durability, and the size of the “flywheel” that powers downstream monetization (consumer products, theme-park integration, and eventual streaming windows). Variety also noted the broader industry context: overall box office remains meaningfully below pre-pandemic levels, underscoring why a $6B studio year is still a standout datapoint. [6]
Just as importantly, Variety outlined that Disney’s 2026 slate includes tentpoles such as “Avengers: Doomsday,” “Toy Story 5,” and a live-action “Moana,” reinforcing the view that Disney’s franchise pipeline is built to keep feeding its multi-business ecosystem. [7]
“Avatar: Fire and Ash” momentum: Holiday corridor tailwind, but watch the legs
Recent performance of “Avatar: Fire and Ash” has been a key supporting datapoint behind the box office narrative. Reuters reported the film opened with roughly $345 million worldwide through its opening weekend, and quoted Jeff Bock, senior box office analyst at Exhibitor Relations Co., emphasizing the importance of the holiday corridor and the potential for strong “legs” beyond opening weekend. [8]
That nuance matters. Disney investors typically focus less on a single weekend number and more on whether a film becomes a durable earnings contributor—and whether it strengthens the company’s pricing power across related businesses. Bock’s view that the holiday period can drive a multi-week surge in ticket sales frames why traders may keep the studio conversation active into year-end. [9]
Disney stock price action: Where DIS stands heading into Monday
As of the latest available quote, Disney is hovering around the mid-$113 area, near where it finished Friday. [10]
From a near-term trading perspective, Friday’s $113.27 low and $114.74 high give the market an immediate reference range for Monday’s first hour—especially if futures are active and year-end flows exaggerate early moves. [11]
From a longer lens, Disney has been navigating a wide 52-week corridor (commonly cited around the low-$80s to mid-$120s in market data services), so the question for many longer-term investors remains whether the company can build a sustained earnings narrative that justifies a higher multiple rather than simply reacting to quarterly catalysts. [12]
Analyst forecasts: What Wall Street is modeling for DIS
On the sell-side, the current message is broadly constructive but not unanimous.
MarketBeat’s consensus snapshot shows Disney with a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating based on 27 analyst ratings, and an average 12-month price target of $134.41 (with a high of $152 and a low of $110). That implies meaningful upside from current levels if execution meets expectations and the market remains supportive. [13]
It’s worth noting that consensus targets can move quickly around earnings, major content read-throughs, and changes in sports media economics—so investors often treat them as a directional gauge rather than a precise roadmap.
The next big catalyst: Earnings timing and what to listen for
With the market closed this weekend, a practical investor focus is simply “what’s the next scheduled moment of truth?”
Wall Street Horizon’s event calendar lists Disney’s next earnings date as unconfirmed and forecast for Wednesday, Feb. 4, 2026 (before market), emphasizing that the date has not been formally confirmed by the company and is based on historical reporting patterns. [14]
Why this matters now: year-end positioning often compresses the calendar. When investors return after New Year’s, DIS can quickly become a “setup” stock—trading on expectations for streaming profitability progress, parks demand signals, and ESPN’s longer-term strategy.
What investors should know before the next session
Because the exchange is closed, the edge is less about watching prints and more about preparation. Here are the key factors likely to matter for Disney stock into Monday’s open:
1) Year-end tape effects can amplify moves (in either direction).
Reuters’ week-ahead report flagged that light volumes and year-end portfolio adjustments can increase volatility, even without major company-specific headlines. Strategist Paul Nolte of Murphy & Sylvest Wealth Management said “momentum is certainly on the side of the bulls,” but also pointed to the reality that flows can dominate in the final sessions of the year. [15]
2) Macro catalysts next week can spill into DIS via sentiment.
Reuters highlighted that Federal Reserve meeting minutes due Tuesday could influence rate expectations. Michael Reynolds, vice president of investment strategy at Glenmede, told Reuters the minutes may be “illuminating” for understanding the debate around rate cuts—important because rate expectations feed directly into equity multiples for large-cap media names. [16]
3) The studio narrative is improving—but the market still cares about the whole Disney equation.
The $6B box office headline is supportive, but investors typically want confirmation across:
- Streaming: sustainability of profitability improvements and churn dynamics.
- Parks/experiences: pricing power and attendance trends.
- Sports/media: clarity on distribution economics and the path for ESPN.
(Those will likely reassert themselves as primary drivers as earnings season approaches, even if films dominate weekend headlines.)
4) Watch for “follow-through” headlines on franchises and the 2026 slate.
Variety’s reporting underscores that Disney’s 2025 success was driven by a handful of massive winners—plus a pipeline of major 2026 releases. If trade outlets report additional updates on theatrical legs, release scheduling, or franchise strategy, DIS can react even during a slow tape because media stocks are narrative-sensitive. [17]
Bottom line for Disney stock
Disney stock enters the weekend near $113, with markets closed and the broader tape still leaning bullish into the year’s final trading days. [18]
The most actionable fresh development for investors is the studio’s $6 billion global box office milestone, which strengthens the near-term content narrative and reinforces Disney’s franchise leverage heading into 2026. [19]
For Monday, the key question is whether year-end flows and a market hovering near record levels keep supporting large-cap names—or whether thin liquidity turns routine headlines into outsized moves. As Reuters’ Ryan Detrick of Carson Group put it after Friday’s quiet session, the market may simply be “catching our breath” after a strong run—an apt description of where Disney sits going into the next open. [20]
References
1. stockanalysis.com, 2. www.reuters.com, 3. www.reuters.com, 4. www.reuters.com, 5. au.variety.com, 6. au.variety.com, 7. au.variety.com, 8. www.reuters.com, 9. www.reuters.com, 10. stockanalysis.com, 11. stockanalysis.com, 12. www.investing.com, 13. www.marketbeat.com, 14. www.wallstreethorizon.com, 15. www.reuters.com, 16. www.reuters.com, 17. au.variety.com, 18. stockanalysis.com, 19. au.variety.com, 20. www.reuters.com
