Walt Disney’s theme park unit may not return to last year’s level of profitability until 2025, analysts at Cowen and Company forecasted.
That’s terrible news for parent company Walt Disney because the “parks and resorts” category had been its most significant division by sales and profit growth.
“We believe that at best, heavy capacity constraints will prevail until at least mid-2021, and believe there is a meaningful probability that the park could be forced to close again,” wrote Cowen analysts Doug Creutz and Stephen Glagola in a report to investors.
“Disneyland remains closed, and we expect that to persist due to California’s more cautious approach in dealing with the virus,” the analysts wrote.
Parks in other parts of the world, such as France, Hong Kong, Japan, and China, may also face halting progress.
Attendance at Disney-run attractions and resorts could drop by nearly 100 million people over two years, the forecast by Cowen found.
The company is the world’s largest theme park operator, according to the Themed Entertainment Association. So it’s a bellwether for trends.
Read original article
