Disney shares plummeted Thursday, falling 7% in their worst session since June 2020, after the media giant reported a subscriber growth slowdown in its streaming service.
The stock was the worst performer in the Dow Jones Industrial Average. Its losses pulled it into a bear market, having fallen 20% from a March peak.
But traders are split on whether this latest sell-off spells opportunity or not. Fairlead Strategies founder Katie Stockton, for example, says Thursday’s drop looks like a “shakeout.” She also sees it as a chance to buy at a discount.
“A shakeout is essentially a false breakdown and this is actually kind of an exciting move for me to see from Disney because it’s been such a laggard since March,” Stockton told CNBC’s “Trading Nation” on Thursday. “Into this gap down we have obviously emotionally-charged selling, it could be a selling climax of sorts especially with the volume running heavy.”
“There is support on the chart between about $153 and $155 and the next resistance is up around the 200-day moving average. So I think it’s somewhat compelling, albeit not exactly risk-free, to add into this kind of weakness,” she said.
Disney closed Thursday just above $162. It would need to rally around 11% to reach Stockton’s resistance target, its 200-day moving average of $180.
Piper Sandler chief market technician Craig Johnson is not a buyer yet, however. He sees the potential for more weakness before the selling is over.
“Mickey Mouse never goes out of style, but in terms of the chart here today, I want to wait for them to go on clearance a little bit further,” Johnson said during the same interview.
“It’s in a well-defined downtrend in our work,” he said. “I think we will have an opportunity to buy it lower than where it is here in the next couple of weeks or months.”
In an email to CNBC, he further elaborated that a retest of the lower-end of a downward price channel at $158 is possible. It traded as low as $158.33 per share Thursday.
