DIS Stock Gains Nearly 2% — Why Wells Fargo Says Disney Could Jump 40% If It Exits Streaming

• Wells Fargo says Disney’s intellectual property is becoming more valuable even as its streaming business falls behind rivals.
• The firm believes Disney cannot match the scale and release cadence of Netflix and YouTube in streaming.
• It says Disney's films, parks and brand strength would remain intact even if its content appeared on competing platforms.

Shares of Walt Disney Co. (DIS) rose nearly 2% early on Monday even as Wells Fargo said the entertainment giant should consider exiting the streaming business and refocusing on producing rather than distributing content.

The investment firm said such a strategic shift could boost Disney’s stock by as much as 40%, even as it lowered its price target on the company.

The DIS stock was up around 1.5% at the time of writing on Monday afternoon trading.

Why Disney Should Exit Streaming

Wells Fargo maintained its ‘Overweight’ rating on Disney but cut its price target to $125 from $146. Even after the reduction, the new target implies an upside of nearly 31% from Friday’s closing price.

If Disney pivots back toward content production, the stock could rally as much as 40%, Wells Fargo said in a note to clients, according to a report in CNBC. The firm stated that Disney's content is becoming more valuable while its distribution business is falling behind rivals, with competition among streaming platforms expected to intensify.

“Disney is not set up to compete with Netflix or YouTube on volume. It's an open question whether their release cadence is sufficient to manage churn for [long-term] margins. What is clear is that [intellectual property] values are climbing," Wells Fargo wrote, according to the CNBC report.

IP Value Rising Faster Than Physical Assets

Wells Fargo said Disney's intellectual property continues to appreciate in value. According to a July analysis by the United Nations' intellectual property agency, intangible investments, including patents, trademarks and other intellectual property, grew at an annual rate of 5.5% between 2020 and 2025, compared with 3.2% for tangible investments, reported CNBC.

“We don’t think the box office, Experiences or brand value would suffer if the library were on a competing global streamer,” Wells Fargo added.

DIS Stock: What Stocktwits Retail Sentiment Says

On Stocktwits, retail sentiment for DIS was ‘bullish,’ unchanged in the last 25 hours, while message volume was ‘normal’ at the time of writing.

According to data from Koyfin, 27 of the 30 analysts covering DIS rate it ‘Buy’ or ‘Strong Buy,’ while 2 rate it ‘Hold’ and 1 rates it ‘Sell.’ The 12-month average target on the stock is $129.67, representing a potential upside of around 36% from the last close.

The DIS stock has declined nearly 15% year-to-date.

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