Nothing better than a good “I told you so…”
So let’s take a quick victory lap this morning. And while we enjoy that, we can also talk about the lesson learned here.
Disney
Yup, it’s Disney.
A couple of weeks ago, I posted Is Disney a Great Company? I sold my shares a while back, but it still somewhat haunts me because Disney is Disney. Fantastic content and experiences. It was a long-term winner for me, but it just got a little too involved in political topics for my taste.
And for a business, politics can be the kiss of death. Pick a topic. Whichever side you take, you’re likely to alienate half of your customers.
That was the reason for my final sale of Disney in 2022.
Am I Sure?
And then a couple of weeks ago, I thought more about Disney, did some reading and some reflecting and left with these thoughts:
No Disney for me.
Serendipity
And shortly thereafter, Disney did it again. And not in a good way. There are many stories about the details and the facts, which differ depending on whether you’re on the left or right, but the reality is that Disney, the parent of ABC, pulled Jimmy Kimmel Live off the air in what was perceived as a political move.
And again, politics and business don’t mix. Some customers and potential customers won’t like this and will vote with their feet. Some of those feet won’t be going to Disney.
I posted about it here in Oops they did it again.
Today’s Story
And then they’re baaaack.
Disney nailed it. They didn’t just alienate 50%, they alienated everybody. Read it here.
Wrap Up
I’m taking a victory lap. Yes, it’s cool to be right, but it reinforces to me the importance of knowing a company.
A company in which we invest is not just a stock ticker and a balance sheet. There’s a lot more to it.
Disney had an aggregate analyst rating of 6.4 out of 10 when I wrote the post 2ish weeks ago.
Today it’s 4.6
It’s not just the Kimmel decision. There is a pattern of controversial political decision making going back to the COVID era battle with Governor DeSantis.
And it doesn’t matter which side we’re on. The fact that a company in which we invest is choosing to put political ideology ahead of profits is not a recipe for financial success. And isn’t financial success the reason most of us are investing in the first place?
And interestingly, I’ve not read about any of Disney’s extracurricular work in analysts reports. We need to tune-in to other sources to get the whole picture.
The lesson is that we need to stay on top of the companies we own. The balance sheet and financials are important, but it’s important to dig into the company to be sure we understand it fully before we commit our hard-earned dollars.