Was The Force Strong? Here's How Much A $1,000 Investment In Disney Stock When Lucasfilm Was Acquired Is Worth Today

Over the years, media giant The Walt Disney Company DIS has grown through acquisitions and been able to create or evolve new intellectual property from its existing and newly owned brands across its strong position in television, movies, theme parks and consumer products. Here’s a look at how shares have performed since Disney acquired Lucasfilm, the parent company of Star Wars.

What Happened: Under the leadership of then-CEO Bob Iger, Disney acquired Pixar and Marvel in 2006 and 2009, adding the huge intellectual property to the company. Disney also acquired Lucasfilm, the owner of Star Wars, in 2012. The acquisitions helped boost Disney’s global brand and the stock's performance, and could be why the company has turned once again to Iger to lead the company.

On Oct. 30, 2012, Disney announced it was acquiring Lucasfilm in a deal valuing the company at $4.05 billion. Disney paid cash and used 40 million shares to complete the deal.

“This transaction combines a world-class portfolio of content including ‘Star Wars,’ one of the great family entertainment franchises of all time, with Disney’s unique and unparalleled creativity across multiple platforms, businesses and markets to generate sustained growth and drive significant long-term value,” Iger said at the time.

Since the acquisition, several Star Wars movies and shows have been released, including an additional film trilogy, several origin Star Wars movies, and the creation of shows like “Mandalorian” and “The Book of Boba Fett.”

The 2015 movie “Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens” ranks as the top-grossing domestic movie of all time with $936.6 million and ranks fourth among all-time worldwide releases with a gross of $2.07 billion.

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Investing $1,000 in Disney Stock: Just like acquisitions before Lucasfilm, investors questioned if Disney was overpaying at the time. Years later, the box office success of the franchise and the performance of streaming platform Disney+ anchored by Star Wars content have helped ease concerns.

Disney shares opened for trading at $51.15 the morning after the Lucasfilm acquisition was announced. A $1,000 investment could have bought 19.55 Disney shares at the time.

Today, those Disney shares would be worth $1,943.47. This represents a return of 94.3% since the Lucasfilm deal. This represents an average annual return of 9.43% since the acquisition.

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