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NBCUniversal, owned by Comcast, is opening its Epic Universe on May 22. Disney World may have to up its game.

Harry Potter and Super Mario are about to go head-to-head with Luke Skywalker and Mickey Mouse. That isn’t the plot of the latest superhero blockbuster—it’s a real-life fight between Comcast and Walt Disney for dominance in Orlando, Fla.

Walt Disney has been the biggest player in the world’s theme-park capital for more than half a century, but Comcast’s NBCUniversal will challenge that when it opens Epic Universe on May 22, expanding its already large presence in the area.

Thrill seekers will be able to hop on to new rides at Epic based on Nintendo’s Mario franchise and the Wizarding World, then drive 15 minutes down Interstate 4 to sample Disney attractions centered on Star Wars and the Marvel Cinematic Universe. This is a clear win for the millions who visit Orlando each year.

But the House of Mouse’s shareholders have reason to be nervous. Investors have long regarded the Orlando park as the biggest moneymaker for Disney’s experiences business, which made up about 60% of its total profit in fiscal 2024. The company can’t afford to take the battle for Central Florida lightly.

Disney’s parks have faltered in the run-up to Epic’s launch. Operating income for the experiences segment was flat last year, overshadowing other successes, like streaming turning a profit for the first time. Shares are down 14% over the past 12 months, compared with an 8.5% jump for the S&P 500 index.

Some of the slowdown has been due to factors out of Disney’s control. Stubborn inflation and elevated interest rates mean that Americans have cut back on vacation spending. Other theme parks are struggling, too: Six Flags Entertainment’s losses have widened, and its stock is down 12% since March 2024.

But some of Disney’s parks problems are self-inflicted. The company hasn’t built enough new rides in recent years to persuade vacationers to keep coming back.

Its $71 billion acquisition of 21st Century Fox in 2019 sucked up cash, and Disney has prioritized other parts of its business since then. The company spent $23.4 billion on produced and licensed content over the past fiscal year as it bid to woo subscribers to its Disney+ streaming platform, while investing $5.4 billion in its cruise fleet, parks, resorts, and other property.

As a rival park launches nearby, the biggest changes set to happen at Disney World this summer are cosmetic improvements for the slot-car ride Test Track. That’s a real risk: Without the promise of shiny new attractions, vacationers may decide to go to Epic instead.

“Amusement parks have to build rides to get customers to come back year after year,” says Len Testa, president of Touring Plans, a data provider that helps vacationers plan theme-park visits. “Just saying, ‘Come and see the new version of Test Track’ doesn’t seem like a viable strategy.”

Disney executives have been sanguine about the threat the new park poses. “We looked at the history of other attractions opening up in other parks in Florida, and it has generally been beneficial to us,” said Disney Chief Financial Officer Hugh Johnston on an earnings call in November. That is, Disney believes that Epic makes Orlando more appealing as a vacation destination, boosting foot traffic at Disney World as well as at Universal’s resort. Disney declined to make executives available for this article.

Wall Street isn’t so sure about Disney’s theory. MoffettNathanson, a boutique investment research firm focused on technology, media, and telecoms, has estimated that Epic will lure about one million visitors away from Disney World in the first year that it’s open. That’s a decent-size chunk of Disney’s customer base: Its flagship Magic Kingdom park in Orlando pulled in 17.7 million attendees in 2023, according to the latest edition of the Aecom Theme Index, which measures amusement-park attendance.

Ric Prentiss, who heads up telecommunications equity research for the investment firm Raymond James, thinks Epic’s launch could put a lid on growth for Disney’s parks.

Epic is going to have that new-car smell. It’s a pretty exciting launch, and that will be a headwind,” Prentiss, who rates Disney shares at the equivalent of Hold, tells Barron’s. “People coming to Orlando are going to want to give this new park a try—there will be some pressure on Disney.”

Epic will be the fourth theme park in the broader Universal Orlando Resort, which also features on-site hotels and the CityWalk shopping and dining district. Until now, the development didn’t feel like much of a threat to Disney World—vacationers have tended to visit there for a day or two, either before or after a longer stay with Mickey Mouse & Co.

Mark Woodbury, CEO of Universal Destinations & Experiences, thinks Epic can flip the script. “This is about continued growth in Orlando, and it really speaks to our bolder ambition to become the destination of choice in each of our key markets.…Prior to this, consumers would spend a day or two at Universal, but we wanted that to expand to the full week,” he tells Barron’s.

Universal has poured about $7 billion into the development, according to analyst estimates, and is bringing out the big guns from its vast intellectual-property library in a bid to get consumers to shell out for tickets. One of Epic’s five “worlds” is themed around Nintendo characters; some are from The Super Mario Bros. Movie, a 2023 videogame adaptation that grossed about $1.4 billion. Another world will center on the How to Train Your Dragon franchise, to tie in with a live-action film coming out in June.

Woodbury says that Comcast is “playing the long game and looking at how [it] can drive growth” from theme parks. Universal is also planning to open a kids-focused site in Frisco, Texas, and is in talks with the United Kingdom government about a 700-acre development in Bedfordshire, a rural county just outside London.

Theme parks make up just 7.4% of Comcast’s overall revenue, so don’t expect any of this to boost shares right away. But the expansion plans could help Comcast by giving it a route to growth apart from its ailing broadband business, which lost about 400,000 customers last year.

Disney won’t just roll over. Even though Disney World hasn’t opened many new rides lately, it still offers 94 attractions and shows in Orlando right now, compared with Universal Orlando’s 56, according to data from Touring Plans. In September 2023, the company set aside $60 billion to invest in experiences over the following 10 years, which could help undo some of the damage caused by the recent underspending on parks.

Disney has also experimented with a so-called dynamic pricing model, in which tickets become more expensive at times of high demand, focusing on Disneyland Paris. Industry insiders believe that it’s only a matter of time before the company introduces a similar system in Orlando. The strategy could help Disney maximize how much revenue it can make per attendee but has proved unpopular in sectors such as event ticketing, with fans feeling ripped off when prices surge.

Higher capital expenditures won’t change the reality that Americans are tightening their belts. Tariffs, labor-market shakiness, and a slowdown in spending don’t bode well for a Disney rebound, according to Raymond James’ Prentiss.

“The health of the consumer, what’s going on with unemployment and tariffs….People are going to be taking care of food and shelter before they start thinking about a Disney vacation,” he says.

Between the faltering economy and the new competition up the road, Disney shareholders have good reason to buckle up.

CK Hutchison has a deal to sell its Panama Canal ports to BlackRock. But Beijing doesn’t like it.

When a BlackRock infrastructure fund agreed to buy the Panama Canal ports that had drawn the ire of President Donald Trump for what he called Chinese control of the waterway, it looked like the end of that episode. Less attention was paid to the seller, Hong Kong–based CK Hutchison Holdings, or how the deal would be received by Beijing.

When a BlackRock infrastructure fund agreed to buy the Panama Canal ports that had drawn the ire of President Donald Trump for what he called Chinese control of the waterway, it looked like the end of that episode. Less attention was paid to the seller, Hong Kong–based CK Hutchison Holdings, or how the deal would be received by Beijing.

The transaction, which is due to be completed in early April, would be a windfall for CK Hutchison, netting it over $19 billion in cash for the Panama Canal terminals and other ports around the world. The price is equal to about 85% of the company’s market value for a business that generated less than 15% of its profits.

But the high-profile sale could be in jeopardy because Chinese leader Xi Jinping is displeased that CK Hutchison didn’t consult him before negotiating the deal, according to a recent Wall Street Journal article. The controversy it produced has thrown the spotlight on a company that isn’t familiar to U.S. investors but should be.

CK Hutchison owns extensive international infrastructure assets in everything from electric power and natural gas to renewable energy and water. It also controls a large group of retailers that sell health and beauty-care products throughout Asia, notably AS Watson. It also owns a sizable European wireless telecommunications business, led by 3 Group Europe, and has a 17% stake in Canadian energy company Cenovus Energy. It has a cheap stock and a billionaire founder who draws comparisons to Warren Buffett.

Li Ka-shing, 96, took a small plastics business that he started in Hong Kong about 75 years ago and built one of Asia’s great companies and personal fortunes. His family trust owns about 25% of the company and he serves as a senior adviser, while his son, Victor Li, 60, leads the company.

The more-liquid Hong Kong–listed shares, which trade at about 45 Hong Kong dollars, have the ticker symbol 1.Hong Kong, reflecting the company’s historic importance to the city’s financial markets. The U.S.-listed shares (ticker: CKHUY), which are equivalent to one Hong Kong share and now trade at about $5.80, fetch just seven times projected 2025 earnings, carry a roughly 5% dividend yield, and trade for about a third of the company’s book value and estimated net asset value, or NAV.

“CK Hutchison is trading at a very substantial discount to what we think the stock is worth,” says Simon Shi, deputy director of research at Kopernik Global, an investment firm that holds the stock. He thinks the company’s asset value is four times its current market value of $22 billion.

Citigroup analyst George Choi, who has a Buy rating on the stock, has a similar view. He pegs the company’s asset value at nearly HK$130 per share, or nearly three times the current stock price. His price target is a conservative HK$56.80, still a 27% gain from the recent close. Conglomerates often trade at a discount to their NAVs to reflect complexity, but the discount on CK Hutchison is unusually steep.

CK Hutchison stock popped 35% after the deal was announced in March. Choi wrote that it would be “significantly value-enhancing” if completed, based on the preliminary terms. He had valued the ports at a sizable discount to the deal value.

Assuming it gets that deal done, CK Hutchison will be left with a lot of cash and three large businesses: telecommunications, retailing, and an infrastructure business that consists principally of a 76% interest, now worth $12 billion, in the Hong Kong–listed CK Infrastructure Holdings.

CK Hutchison is arguably cheap for a reason. Many international investors won’t touch Hong Kong companies due to China risk, including CK Hutchison, even though it generates over 85% of its revenue and profits beyond Greater China. The political risk is real, as Xi’s reported displeasure with the Panama deal shows, though the Chinese government has no ownership interest in the company.

The risk is reflected in shares of CK Hutchison, which are down 50% over the past seven years, and the discount to NAV, which has risen to more than 60% from 25% over that period, Citi’s Choi estimates.

CK Hutchison’s earnings performance has also been mixed, with pretax profits down 1%, to $7 billion, in 2024, the company recently reported. In a subdued comment on the outlook, Victor Li called the operating environment “volatile and unpredictable.” The company has sizable debt of $33 billion, but net debt, which accounts for its cash holdings, is about half of that amount. It has single-A credit ratings, indicating comfort by the agencies with its debt levels.

Despite understandable concerns, the Li family has navigated Hong Kong and Chinese politics for decades. That means it may find a way to get the ports deal done without alienating China.

Kopernik’s Shi views the Li family’s ongoing role as a positive. “We like to partner with management whose interests are closely aligned with ours,” he says.

It’s easy to imagine how a bullish scenario could play out for CK Hutchison, which has dropped over 10% since its initial port-sale pop. If the deal gets done, the company could use the proceeds to pay down debt and buy back a lot of stock. It could also consider listing elsewhere, perhaps in London.

Trump’s trade policies haven’t been a problem for Chinese stocks, which are up 20% year to date. That trend could continue, especially if U.S.-China relations thaw.

CK Hutchison could also consider a partial breakup, which might include selling its valuable infrastructure business. Global investors are hungry for those assets, as the high price of the ports deal attests.

It isn’t often that investors get to buy a quality asset at 35 cents on the dollar. If CK Hutchison were based almost anywhere else but Hong Kong, it probably would trade at a higher valuation.

Exit of Luc Rémont comes after months of tensions over strategy and cost overruns

France has ousted the chief executive of state-owned nuclear power group EDF after months of tensions over strategy and the risk of cost overruns in the construction of six new reactors.

The Élysée Palace announced the departure of Luc Rémont on Friday. The executive had been at EDF since November 2022, with the initial mission of restoring the output of its fleet of reactors following a period plagued by technical problems.

Rémont was also responsible for a plan to build a series of powerful and more costly reactors known as the EPR2. 

Rémont will be replaced by Bernard Fontana, the current head of Framatome, a subsidiary of EDF that builds reactors and components, the Élysée said.

Carlotta and Nicolò Oddi have regained full control of the high-end knitwear brand they launched in 2015.

MILAN — Changes are ahead for another brand in New Guards Group’s stable.

After Bluestar Alliance’s acquisitions of Off-White and Palm Angels, Alanui’s cofounders, siblings Carlotta and Nicolò Oddi, have bought back the stake held by New Guards Group, or NGG, in the high-end knitwear brand they launched in 2015.

Financial details were not disclosed but it is understood the Oddis bought back the majority stake NGG had, regaining full control of the brand. NGG first invested in Alanui in 2017.

As result of the move, Alanui will directly and independently manage its business from operations to distribution, with Carlotta and Nicolò Oddi retaining their roles as the brand’s creative director and chief executive officer, respectively. Starting from the spring 2026 collection, Alanui men’s and women’s lines will be directly distributed by the brand from a Milan-based showroom.

Leveraging her experience as a fashion editor and consultant and seeing a gap in the market and opportunity for knitwear in a moment dominated by T-shirts and hoodies, Oddi presented Alanui’s first collection in March 2016. The brand launched with a single product — a luxury belted cardigan with a boho-chic vibe that is still the centerpiece of the label’s offering and reinterpreted in new ways each season. These comprise intarsia designs, which frequently telegraph Oddi’s escapist approach and evoke her seasonal traveling themes or mystical inspirations.

Through the years, the brand’s globetrotting ethos, craftsmanship and research in knitting techniques expanded to ready-to-wear, accessories, mini-me, pet and home lines.

“For us, this is a fashion house — everything is centered around a lifestyle linked to travels, every collection is a destination,” Oddi said.

The fall 2025 line, which was already presented to buyers but is to be officially unveiled with a see now, buy now timing, offered the Oddis other encouraging signs that they are moving in the right direction, as the CEO said sales of the collection were up 15 percent over the spring 2025 collection.

“In quite a particular moment for the market, we’re getting positive feedback. And this is linked to the values, strong DNA and recognizability of the brand,” said Nicolò Oddi, who also highlighted the creative consistency across product categories and constant dialogue with the brand’s community as key factors in its success.

“The vision will remain the same going forward. We’re structuring the company to sustain an organic and constant, double-digit growth season after season for the coming years,” continued the executive, who plots collaborations and activations aimed at boosting Alanui’s customer experience and international visibility.

Without disclosing sales figures, Oddi said the brand’s current best-performing markets are the EMEA region – led by Italy, Germany and the U.K. – and the U.S. The priority now is to consolidate its wholesale footprint in these areas, before expanding in Asia, which the founders already explored via the launch of pop-ups in countries like Japan last year.

In the longer term, the goal is to open the brand’s first standalone store, seen as key in communicating the Alanui world even more effectively. Oddi said the location would be in Milan, as it would be easier to manage and help it test and learn.

The store would display Alanui’s ever-expanding assortment. The cardigan and its different iterations, such as the cardi-crop style, are still the best-selling items, followed by crewneck sweaters and longer options doubling as coats. Other categories ranging from pants to accessories are on the rise, signaling customers’ shift in their perception of the label as a full-fledged offering.

In parallel with the main collections, each season the Oddis are slowly expanding the Alanui Finest line, introduced in 2023 and representing the pinnacle of the brand’s offering with monochrome and timeless silhouettes crafted from even more premium yarns, including an exclusive cashmere and silk blend.

That launch enabled Alanui to reach different clusters of customers, as the label’s target is currently aged 20 to over 60 years old.

Alanui has also released different collaborations, ranging from The Rolling Stones and Looney Tunes to Jacques Marie Mage, Sebago and Moon Boot, to name a few. Carlotta Oddi said these have been important for the brand as they were developed with companies with shared values, recognizable identities and which were specialists in their own product categories. The plan is to explore more in the future.

The Oddis’ decision to regain full control of their business differs from the fate of other NGG brands.

As reported, last month global brand management firm Bluestar Alliance LLC acquired luxury streetwear firm Palm Angels from NGG. The brand was founded in 2015 by Francesco Ragazzi, who exited the company as result of the deal and, after a fortnight, introduced his new gig, a high-end fragrance label named Réservation.

The deal followed Bluestar Alliance’s acquisition of Off-White from LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton at the end of September.

A division of Farfetch, NGG is still home to brands including Marcelo Burlon County of Milan, Unravel Project, Heron Preston, Peggy Gou, Ambush and There Was One.

Farfetch acquired NGG for $675 million in 2019. South Korean e-commerce giant Coupang took control of Farfetch at a knockdown price of $500 million at the end of 2023.

As reported, in November, two weeks after losing the license to distribute Reebok footwear and apparel in Europe, NGG filed for Chapter 11-style proceedings in Italy, undergoing a restructuring and debt management process under Italian bankruptcy law.

The filing is known in Italy as a CNC, and offers troubled companies the time and space to restructure and chart a path forward. It is not an insolvency procedure