Disney shares fell more than 8% in morning trading

Disney shares fell more than 8% in morning trading.

Atlantic Equities is cutting Disney to Neutral from Buy in the wake of its earnings, pointing to direct-to-consumer additionsslowing more than expected.

It is lowering its price target to $172 from $219 per share, just below the last closing price.

"Disney's focus on franchises led to excellent sign-up rates out of the gate, but we are increasingly convinced that the penetration of this fan base is close to saturated in launched markets," analyst Hamilton Faber writes in a note.

"While there are new geographies to come, we believe volume growth will disappoint," Faber says. "We are retaining our (sum of the parts) valuation but cutting our target DTC revenue multiple from 8x to 5x."

Faber adds that reiterated Disney+ subscriber guidance of 230-260M subs for 2024 looks aggressive and he is cutting his estimate slightly to 218M.