The earnings season has been going pretty good so far, and Walt Disney (DIS) will get its chance to impress Wall Street this afternoon when it reports its fiscal first quarter results after the market closes.

Going into this afternoon's report, analysts are expecting to see the company report earnings of $0.56 per share, up from $0.47 during the same period last year.

Continue reading Disney Expected to Post Strong Q1 Results

Disney Expected to Post Strong Q1 Results originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 08 Feb 2011 14:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

In the current economic environment, a lot of companies are cutting back costs wherever they can in hopes of boosting earnings, but entertainment giant Walt Disney (NYSE: DIS) is taking a different approach and spending in hopes of boosting its sales.

Disney is hoping that by completely revamping its retail stores that it will be able to lure in more customers, keep them longer, and encourage more sales. In order to make the best of their new marketing direction, they have enlisted the aid of one of the greatest (in my opinion) retail designers out there, Steve Jobs.

Continue reading While others are cutting back, Disney is spending

While others are cutting back, Disney is spending originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 13 Oct 2009 12:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

This post is part of our Ads Gone Bad series. Share your thoughts and memories of this ad in the comments, and be sure to check out our other posts on marketing gone wrong.

Thanks to our unfortunate history with slavery and the subsequent economic slavery imposed on minority Americans, we as a nation are very sensitive to charges of racism. So sensitive, in fact, that advertisers are often accused of such transgressions for the slightest intimation. Six Flags (NYSE: SIX), the amusement park chain, found this out recently.

The park created what I thought was a clever series of ads contrasting the humdrum routine of ordinary life with the thrills to be found at a Six Flags park. For example, one ad showed a lumpy teen attempting to dance, another a chortling woman teasing her cat with a laser pointer, both compared to gleeful coaster riders at Six Flags.

Continue reading Ads Gone Bad: Six Flags not so much fun

Ads Gone Bad: Six Flags not so much fun originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 10 Sep 2008 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Investors/readers have probably already heard all of the bad jokes regarding Six Flags.

• "Things are so bad at Six Flags, it's now called Three Flags."
• "The only thing rising at Six Flags is the rollercoaster."
• "A contest offered a vacation prize. First Prize: a day at Six Flags. Second Prize: two days at Six Flags."

O.K., that last one was borrowed from arguably the greatest comedian of all time, Groucho Marx, but you get the point: times are tough for Six Flags (NYSE: SIX).

Six Flags has more than $2.4 billion in debt, hasn't posted a profit in years, and has a big hurdle next summer: a $288 million payment to preferred shareholders, The Wall Street Journal reported (subscription required). Six Flags' stock closed Friday down 10 cents to $1.02.

Attendance, down 3% in Q2, is expected to "decline by at least that percentage, or come in even lower" for the year stock analyst C. Leonard Bauer told BloggingStocks, adding that it's not an elaborate mystery concerning why Six Flags is becoming less of a destination of significance.

Continue reading Red flag at Six Flags

Red flag at Six Flags originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sun, 10 Aug 2008 09:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Disney (DIS) second quarter earnings preview

Disney (DIS) second quarter earnings preview originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 05 May 2008 13:37:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Summer is upon us, and for those of you who like to invest in companies you can examine up close, this is the perfect opportunity to expense some travel to the nation's amusement parks. For research, of course. One way to judge the quality of these stocks is how nauseous they makes you (in a good way, of course). For example, here are the 2006 top 10 steel roller coasters in the country as rated by The Internet Best Roller Coaster Poll.

1. Superman, Six Flags New England, Springfield, MA (Six Flags Inc., NYSE: SIX)
2. Millennium Force, Cedar Point, Sandusky, OH (Cedar Fair Entertainment Co., NYSE: FUN)
3. Nitro, Six Flags Great Adventure, Jackson, NJ
4. Goliath, Six Flags Over Georgia, Atlanta, GA
5. SheiKra, Busch Gardens, Tampa FL (Anheuser-Busch, NYSE: BUD)
6. Superman, Six Flags America, Baltimore MD
7. Montu, Busch Gardens, Tampa FL
8. Phantom's Revenge, Kennywood Park, Pittsburg, PA (Kennywood Entertainment)
9. Superman, Darian Lake, Buffalo, NY (CNL Income Properties)
10. Dueling Dragons-Fire, Universal Islands of Adventure, Orlando, FL (General Electric, NYSE:GE)

Looking for a way to teach your children about stocks? A few shares in one of their favorite parks might capture their attention!

Roller coasters: More fun when they're not on the Dow originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 14 Jun 2007 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.