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Technology Stocks : Walt Disney -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: IBMikey who wrote (1781)	7/25/1999 6:22:00 PM
From: Captain Jack	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 2222

NEW YORK, July 25 (Reuters) - Some analysts are loading up on Walt Disney Co. <DIS.N> stock, battered by less-than-magical earnings, because they believe the entertainment giant could soon shake off its problems, Barron's reported. The financial weekly said in its July 26 edition that some analysts think the company's trading price -- 26-13/16 on Friday -- fails to adequately reflect the company's assets and cost-cutting measures now underway. One J.P. Morgan analyst, who was not identified, told Barron's he expects Disney to trade up to $43 within the next 12 months and to $52 the following year. Another Wall Streeter, Scott Black of Delphi Management, told the weekly he has been buying shares of the company at current prices on the strength its assets, which include its brand name, theme parks and cruise ships. "The assets don't disappear," Black said. "If the company does a good job, there is no reason the stock couldn't go back up to $40 or $45." Another analyst said the company's plan to create a new Internet company called Go.com by buying the 57 percent of the Internet portal Infoseek Corp. <SEEK.O> it does not already own also represents valuable assets. To cut costs, the weekly said the company is slashing its annual production of films to 16 from a peak of 40. It has also gotten a pledge from its ABC television network affiliates to help defray the costs of its $5.5 billion pact to broadcast National Football League games, Barron's said. Disney chairman Michael Eisner said his company will get past its difficulties. "I don't think we have unresolvable problems innate to a decaying business," he told the weekly. "Our problems are momentary, fashion-oriented and limited. The company isn't broken." Disney stock has been bruised in recent months after results that have failed to excite investors, problems integrating its acquisition of television network ABC, and movies that have not been able to match the box office success of "The Lion King." Barron's said some Disney watchers it reached suggested the company spin off some non-core assets, including ABC Radio and its two cruise ships. ((Wall Street Desk 212 859-1730)) REUTERS