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Star Wars: The Force Awakens<\/em> took its long-awaited box office bow last night, and the early indications are that fans are piling into theaters in droves to see the latest adventures of a galaxy far, far away.<\/p>\n But not everybody at Disney might be celebrating.<\/p>\n Shares of the company\u2019s stock are trading down 4% on Friday despite the new Star Wars<\/em> film making $57 million in Thursday \u201cpreview\u201d screenings alone, a new record.<\/p>\n The decline comes after pessimism from analysts this week, and means a nearly 9% dip in the stock\u2019s value just over the past month.<\/p>\n Richard Greenfield, with BTIG, pointed to troubles at Disney\u2019s ESPN as a major factor in his downgrade to \u201csell\u201d status. Another part of that is investors having overbid share prices in anticipation of the The Force Awakens<\/em>.<\/p>\n \u201cEven The Force cannot protect ESPN,\u201d Greenfield said in a research note, adding that the sports media giant had spent too much on television rights to sporting events thanks to \u201coverly aggressive\u2026subscriber projections.\u201d<\/p>\n Star Wars<\/em> could help buoy the company\u2019s financial situation in the near term if it brings in north of $2 billion, but anything less could be disastrous for Disney\u2019s bottom line and share price.<\/p>\n While Greenfield now sees the stock dropping to $90, Morgan Stanley\u2019s Benjamin Swinburne on Wednesday set a less dramatic target at $108.<\/p>\n But Moody\u2019s struck a much more positive tone<\/a> in a report on Disney\u2019s credit situation Friday, saying that \u201cthe Star Wars<\/em> franchise is uniquely multi-beneficial to Disney and clearly the evergreen intellectual property further diversifies and strengthens the company\u2019s foundation alongside its most important franchises.\u201d<\/p>\n And while share prices have dipped this month, Disney\u2019s stock is still up on the year<\/a> to the tune of 15.3%.<\/p>\n But ESPN poses a distinct challenge for the company, which sees almost half of its operating income derived from its cable properties. ESPN, the self-styled \u201cworldwide leader in sports,\u201d is far and away the king of Disney\u2019s cable empire.<\/p>\n According to Greenfield, the BTIG analyst, ESPN \u201cnow appears poised to become Disney\u2019s most troubled business as consumer behavior shifts rapidly\u201d away from traditional cable and to digital media sources.<\/p>\n