Walt Disney shares slide as Avatar sequel falls short of opening weekend estimates

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By Sam Boughedda 

Walt Disney (NYSE:DIS) shares dipped Monday, currently down more than 3.5% after its Avatar sequel opened with ticket sales shy of lofty predictions.

The film took in $134 million at its domestic box office opening weekend, falling short of the $175 million industry analysts had predicted, while it was also just below the $135 million to $150 million range forecasted by Disney.

Disney shares are currently trading around the $86.90 mark after opening up the session at above $90 per share.

Following the news, Benchmark analysts said the $134 million in domestic opening-weekend ticket sales "fell short of tracking estimates based on advance ticket sales, which had projected the film would earn between $150M and $175M in North America."

"The movie, which was shot in 3-D and shown on more than 1,500 IMAX screens worldwide, earned $57.1M in China, a result Disney described as disappointing, especially given the runaway success of the first movie in the franchise in China," they added.

The disappointing performance in China is said to be due to audiences staying home or fear of contracting COVID-19, despite movie theaters being open.

"This time, audiences in China largely stayed home for fear of contracting As of 10 days ago, only about 35% of cinemas in China were open, because of strict government lockdowns designed to bring the number of new Covid-19 cases to zero in the country, but about 80% were open for the movie's debut," said the analysts.

Tony Chambers, Disney's global head of theatrical distribution, said: "The problem is nobody wants to go to the cinema, because they've been told that Covid is extremely dangerous."

"Although cinemas are open, the appetite for going to them isn't really there."