The company I chose for our milestone projects is The Walt Disney Company, stock ticker ID
(NYSE: DIS), and they are in the Media and Entertainment industry. I chose Disney based on my
family’s love of going to the theme parks each year, as my parents bought into the Disney
Vacation Club a little over 10 years ago, so this choice felt appropriate to dive in a little deeper
into the financial workings of the company. Disney is one of the top leaders (if not the number 1
leader) in the media and entertainment industry, with their hands in Television, Movies and
now digital streaming markets, theme parks and recreation including its own cruise line, and
widely successful in retail products being sold all over the world.
The item that jumped out the most to me on the balance sheet was Cash & Short-Term
investments. You can see below on the snippet of their numbers from 2017 through 2021 (WSJ),
Cash jumped up over 200% in 2020, came back down a little in 2021 but this has created a huge
jump in the cash to assets ratio which more than doubled from 2019. This is a good liquidity
indicator that there is more cash on hand to cover liabilities (Collective).
Resources
Collective, C. (2022, July 7). Cash to Current Assets Ratio | Formula, Example, Analysis,
Conclusion. Carbon Collective Investing LLC.
https://www.carboncollective.co/sustainable-investing/cash-to-current-assets-ratio
Journal, W. S. (2022). DIS | Walt Disney Co. Annual Balance Sheet - WSJ. Walt Disney Co.
https://www.wsj.com/market-data/quotes/DIS/financials/annual/balance-sheet
