11 Most Promising Stocks According to Analysts

6. Walt Disney Co. (NYSE:DIS)

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 108

Average Upside Potential as of April 23: 40.90%

Walt Disney Co. (NYSE:DIS) is an entertainment company with three primary segments: Entertainment, Sports, and Experiences. It produces and distributes film and television content under the ABC Television Network, Disney, Freeform, FX, Fox, National Geographic, and Star brand television channels, as well as ABC television stations and A+E television networks.

Bernstein analysts, led by Laurent Yoon, recently reiterated an Outperform rating on Disney’s stock, while keeping a $120 price target. This sentiment came from the multifaceted nature of the company’s operations, which consist of Linear/Sports, Parks, and streaming segments, with each possessing unique challenges and opportunities.

The company is growing its digital footprint through a partnership with Epic Games. Disney invested $1.5 billion for an equity stake in Epic Games in 2024, which established Disney as a major player in the emerging metaverse space for entertainment and social interaction. Walt Disney Co. (NYSE:DIS) is reducing its 2025 content budget from $24 billion to $23 billion. Meanwhile, management expects high single-digit earnings growth for the full year, following FQ1 2025’s 40% year-over-year earnings jump.

ClearBridge Value Strategy stated the following regarding The Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS) in its Q1 2025 investor letter:

“While we had already begun to shift toward a more defensive positioning entering the quarter, we made a number of adjustments in response to the rapid-fire developments in both economic and political policy. Among our largest new positions during the period was The Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS), as we believe that it has turned a corner on building out its streaming service, which should help margins inflect higher and help drive better earnings than the market currently anticipates. The shift in management’s strategy, from “market share growth at all costs” to a more focused approach on improving pricing should also help to improve both profitability and margins, and we believe that there remains meaningful upside compared to other streaming service providers at similar scale.”