It's been a good year for Walt Disney (NYSE: DIS) investors. The stock hit a 52-week high after its blowout financial update in February. The shares have pulled back lately, but with a 26% year-to-date gain, it's easily trouncing the market averages.

It's a welcome break. The media giant's shares have lost to the S&P 500 in each of three previous years. There are some good reasons to expect the streak to turn positive this year. Let's go over some of the reasons the House of Mouse could be a smart investment right now.

It was a hot start to Disney+ after the late-2019 launch that helped drive the shares to an all-time high in early 2021. It's the massive losses for the premium streaming service that have weighed on the shares since then. Disney's direct-to-consumer segment -- the business that includes Disney+, Hulu, and ESPN+ -- posted a whopping $4 billion operating deficit in fiscal 2022. Its health is improving dramatically on that front.

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Source Fool.com