It's no secret that Jim Cramer is bullish on Walt Disney Co (NYSE:DIS). He's held the stock for his charitable trust for quite some time and has been adding to his position as the stock has pulled back over the last two years.
Now he's putting his money on management, betting that new leadership can help turn things around.
What To Know: Cramer bashed Netflix Inc (NASDAQ:NFLX) stock in favor of Disney Wednesday night on CNBC's "Mad Money."
"It's time to retire the obsession with Netflix. Unsubscribe if you will," Cramer said.
His main thesis is that Netflix faces too much competition as a pure streaming play. The big tech companies like Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL) have proven that they can launch streaming platforms that easily compete with Netflix, he said.
Related Link: Streaming Wars: Netflix Vs. Disney, Paramount, Amazon, Apple Or HBO Max: Who's Winning?
"[Netflix] feels like it could be built from scratch by anyone with enough money ... but there's no way to build Disney from scratch is there? I mean it would take decades to try to attempt," Cramer said.
"In short, Netflix simply isn't as important as it used to be. Obsessing over its performance is a waste of time. I bet the paycheck on Chapek."
Why It Matters: Cramer maintains that the market is getting it wrong when it comes to Disney. Investors have placed the stock in the penalty box because of decisions under former management. Nobody wants to give CEO Bob Chapek any credit, he said.
"Under Chapek's leadership, Disney's theme parks have become total juggernauts. They make fortunes for the company, yet nobody even seems to care," Cramer said.
Cramer's Disney Bet: Cramer is restricted from investing his personal savings in individual stocks, but if he were actually betting "the paycheck" on Disney, it would be a fairly large bet.
According to Yahoo Finance, Cramer rakes in $5 million per year for his efforts at CNBC. He also supplements his income as the author of several books. In 2019, Cramer sold TheStreet.com to TheMaven for $16.5 million. He was also being compensated for continuing contributions to the financial news site until at least September 2021.
According to a filing with the SEC, TheStreet agreed to pay Cramer approximately $3 million as an annualized guaranteed payment in equal monthly draws, as well as commissions on subscription revenues and net advertising revenues for certain content.
Although Cramer likely makes much more from different revenue streams, assuming he is paid $5 million per year on a bi-weekly basis, Cramer's average paycheck from CNBC would be around $192,307 before taxes.
Disney is a key part of Cramer's charitable trust. Cramer recently donated $579,148 in portfolio income and realized capital gains from 2021, according to CNBC. Since launching the trust, the 'Mad Money' host has reportedly donated more than $3.8 million.
DIS Price Action: Disney has a 52-week high of $187.57 and a 52-week low of $90.23.
The stock was down 0.53% during pre-market trading on Friday to $103.62, according to data from Benzinga Pro.
Photo: Owen Byrne from Flickr.
