ESPN Logo - H 2012
ESPN- Share this article on Facebook
- Share this article on Twitter
- Share this article on Email
- Show additional share options
- Share this article on Print
- Share this article on Comment
- Share this article on Whatsapp
- Share this article on Linkedin
- Share this article on Reddit
- Share this article on Pinit
- Share this article on Tumblr
After News Corp. bought 49 percent of YES at a valuation of $3 billion with an option to acquire 80 percent of the company at a valuation of $3.8 billion, Disney’s ESPN asset is worth up to an impressive $66.5 billion, an analyst said Tuesday.
YES, a TV network dedicated to the New York Yankees baseball team, is “not the same thing as ESPN,” Bernstein Research analyst Todd Juenger wrote in a note Tuesday, but the News Corp. deal creates a “mark-to-market event” for ESPN.
ESPN and YES are the No. 1 national and regional sports networks, respectively, he notes. With the earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization at YES estimated at $200 million annually, the valuation is from 15-times to 19-times EBITDA.
RELATED: ESPN Doubles Down on Baseball With $5.6 Billion Pact
Juenger estimates the EBITDA at ESPN is close to $3.5 billion, so ESPN’s value is at least $45 billion and as much as $66.5 billion.
“So if ESPN were valued at $66.5 billion (meaning Disney’s 80 percent share would be worth $53 billion), that would leave the rest of the Disney Enterprise valued at only approximately 4.5 times EBITDA!” the analyst wrote with an exclamation point.
Juenger rates Disney shares at “outperform” with a target price of $56. The stock closed Tuesday up 1 percent to $48.44, giving it a market capitalization of $87.2 billion.
THR Newsletters
Sign up for THR news straight to your inbox every day