Walt Disney Company (DIS)

The global economic downturn has the potential to do a lot of harm to Disney. As reported in the company's fourth quarter, advertising revenue and hotel bookings are sharply down. Attendance at its theme parks so far is down about 1% and bookings for the first two quarters of 2009 are down just under 10% from last year. Media revenue was flat in the fourth quarter due to lower advertising revenue at its broadcast unit and competing coverage from the US Presidential election.

Increases in fuel prices have increased operating costs at Disney's theme parks and the Disney Cruise Line.

Disney's live action studio did very poorly in 2005, with a series of flops that cost the company hundreds of millions of dollars. While a hit could help generate revenue in all the other business segments, the market is increasingly crowded with competition. The computer-animated film sector, for instance, is nearing saturation, with at least 15 major movies in 2006 produced by numerous studios.

Like other media companies, Disney is threatened by piracy of their valuable content. While the company has tried to control this by providing some video-on-demand online (of course, with advertisement), this is not a solution to the problem.

Disney has extensive tourism-related business and assets, which are very exposed to macroeconomic conditions. In addition, ad sales, a huge part of Disney's revenue stream, would also be negatively impacted by an economic downturn.