What to Expect From The Walt Disney Company in 2018

There's never a dull moment when it comes to Walt Disney (NYSE: DIS). On Wednesday the media giant was making waves after boosting its dividend rate and releasing a buzz-worthy trailer for next year's Avengers: Infinity War movie. Unfortunately for investors, the stock itself hasn't made as splashy a move. Disney stock is trading barely higher in 2017, with its year-to-date gain of less than 2% losing sorely to the buoyant market.

Disney stock was also marching in place last year, trading essentially flat for all of 2016 while the market inched higher. The trend suggests that next year will bring more of the same, but let's not assume back-to-back years of stagnancy are the new normal at Disney. It's been a tug-of-war, as strength at Disney's iconic theme parks and expanding market multiples have been held back by the well-publicized challenges at ESPN and a rough 2017 at the box office relative to previous years.

Another ho-hum year seems unlikely in 2018. There are a fair number of headwinds and tailwinds that will battle it out to give the stock direction, but that perfect balance where factors cancel each other out resulting in flat annual moves -- like we saw in 2016 and 2017 -- is unlikely to reappear next year.

Source: Fool.com