Very few CEOs talk the talk on capital allocation like Strauss Zelnick. Preaches opportunistic buybacks only when the stock is at "deep value". Selective M&A that they have not yet messed up. Very consistent messaging. Interesting to go back through the past few years comments.
"We bought back $360 million of stock at an average price of 97. At least today that looks like a smart move. We only do buybacks, when we believe we're executing them at deep value. That is just our opinion, but it is based on our view of the future"
"we opportunistically repurchased 1.26 million shares of our stock during the second quarter for $200 million with an average price of $158.67. This marks the first time in over two years that we repurchased our stock underscoring the deep value that we observed"
"The problem is that most corporate M&A fails, and I'll emphasize that, in entertainment, most interactive M&A fails. We have only done a handful of deals on my watch, but they've all been successful, very successful. Where successful is defined by accretive, profitable.."
"so far we haven't had a failed transaction in 14 years, we haven't done that many, but the ones that we've done have all consoled out, which is important to us... So we are disciplined. We focus heavily on a cultural fit. We really get to know companies before we acquire them"
Fascinating fact pattern. A CEO who speaks and thinks clearly on capital allocation buying stock opportunistically at $158 because it was "deep value", then issues 1/3 of the company at same price. Clearly believes massive value unlocked in this transaction. Market disagrees.
• • •
Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to
force a refresh
need a name for unicorns with positive operating income
They are very clear in the document that Covid has helped them with rising awareness from both hosts and guests, and that the rental car shortage elevated pricing in the marketplace. Will be interesting to see how they message longer term margins.
this thread makes it pretty clear that housing supply situation has not improved, and thus estimates for HPA for 2022 are likely too low. given the gains of last few years, have to start to think about ramifications given another year of likely double digit HPA. so let's look.
Bill at @calculatedrisk has his detailed look at home prices and affordability. On this index, things are still moderately affordable but getting less so by the day.
Covid was clearly bad for DIS Parks/Studio biz. But I've been thinking lately it was also bad for D+.
As @ballmatthew wrote, D+ was going to be a binding agent between the company and consumers, helping to drive the non streaming biz by establishing a direct relationship.
The reality of the pandemic is that D+/streaming role as a business unto itself was forced on the Company. Rather than being allowed to grow steadily and become integrated across the divisions, D+ became the focal point. Yes, the DTC biz is much larger today, but at what cost?
To date, we haven't seen the types of cross asset collaborations I would've hoped for. Obviously the pandemic has a lot to do with that! But management also dramatically upped the sub targets and investor focus is now squarely on the size and shape of DTC, not its halo effect.
DB: “The equity selloff since last Friday remains modest so far, in keeping with regular 3-5% pullbacks that have occurred every 2-3 months historically. However, this was accompanied by the sharpest weekly decline in equity positioning since the collapse back in March 2020”
Hulu remains a clusterfuck. Comcast potentially pulling tons of content, despite owning 1/3 of it. Disney and Comcast in arbitration about strategy and valuation. Disney treating Hulu like a stepchild. President of Hulu leaving to run Comcast owned Peacock wsj.com/articles/comca…