DIS - The Walt Disney Company
| Previous close | 128.19 |
| Open | 126.12 |
| Bid | 0.00 x 800 |
| Ask | 0.00 x 800 |
| Day's range | 122.13 - 128.37 |
| 52-week range | 107.32 - 153.41 |
| Volume | 31,106,010 |
| Avg. volume | 9,891,165 |
| Market cap | 222.719B |
| Beta (5Y monthly) | 0.94 |
| PE ratio (TTM) | 20.76 |
| EPS (TTM) | 5.94 |
| Earnings date | 07 May 2020 - 12 May 2020 |
| Forward dividend & yield | 1.76 (1.37%) |
| Ex-dividend date | 12 Dec 2019 |
| 1y target est | 161.25 |
- Yahoo Finance
'An impossible job': Analyst explains why it's tough being CEO of Disney
Disney CEO Bob Iger's replacement has big shoes to fill, says Laura Martin, managing director and senior analyst at Needham & Co.
- Reuters
Is new Disney CEO Bob Chapek up to the task?
Investors were not convinced and sent Disney shares down 3.7% by the end of the day, but sell-side analysts largely endorsed the succession plan. Former colleagues said Chapek is well-cast in his new role, at least until former CEO Bob Iger's contract ends on Dec. 31, 2021. Over his 27 years at Disney, Chapek ran the Theme Parks and Consumer Products divisions, and was head of distribution at Studio Entertainment.
- Zacks
Coronavirus Fears: Should You Be Investing or Playing It Safe?
If you have been talking anything about the coronavirus, then this is the episode for you. We touch on every facet of the subject and give you a deep dive into how investors could be navigating this volatile market.
- Zacks
Disney's Short-Term Hurdles Creates Long-Term Opportunity
The further this stock falls, the more shares I am going to buy
- Bloomberg
Disney's Next $180 Billion Won't Come Easy
(Bloomberg Opinion) -- The streaming wars. The weaker box-office lineup. The economic trepidation. The coronavirus. All of that is taking Walt Disney Co. on a roller-coaster ride this year, and it makes sense that Bob Iger would rather watch from the safety of the ground than be strapped in the front seat. He’s earned it. Iger, who has been CEO of Disney since 2005, startled investors on Tuesday with his abrupt decision to step down, a move that wasn’t expected to happen until the end of next year. As soon as the subject line of the email from Disney appeared in my inbox at 4:06 pm on Tuesday, a cascade of negative thoughts raced through my mind: Is Iger sick? Is another Hollywood MeToo moment about to unfold? Was the company at risk of losing yet another successor candidate whose patience was tested by Iger’s continuously postponed retirement? The email went on to say that Iger is staying on only as chairman for his remaining 22 months, while Bob Chapek has stepped into the more hands-on and culpable role of CEO. Oh, to be a fly on the wall during those boardroom discussions, the only people who know why exactly the succession plans were sped up.But as the shock from the announcement subsides, and as financial markets remain in tumult, Iger’s unspoken logic behind the move — or at least part of it — makes more sense. Disney has a difficult year ahead, and the stock-market rout adds to the pressure. Why should Iger’s legacy be marked by such a tense final chapter? “It’s the right time to transition to a new CEO,” he said Tuesday, and maybe it really was. Iger signaled that in his remaining time at Disney, he’ll have a more amorphous role that involves working on the creative side to make sure he leaves it in top shape. But strategically, he’s done what he set out to, assembling what he thinks are the right collection of assets, and handing them off to Chapek.Iger, though himself a controversial CEO pick at the time, ended up reigniting Disney’s imagination and sense of magic, restoring a 97-year-old company to its heyday — better, even — accomplishing it all with his reputation for integrity intact. Disney’s market value increased by some $180 billion during his tenure, beating peers and the broader market. His acquisitions of Pixar, Marvel and Lucasfilm were a trifecta of genius, bringing more beloved characters into the Disney universe, elevating the company’s movie-making business, expanding its fan base and setting it up for later success in the streaming-TV era. Iger also expanded Disney’s theme parks and amplified their experience of being transported into a world of childlike wonderment through years of careful investment, capped by the 2016 opening of Shanghai Disney Resort and last year’s opening of the “Star Wars”-themed Galaxy’s Edge. Also last year, Disney delivered the highest-grossing film of all time, Marvel’s “Avengers: Endgame.”But just as I wrote then, as “Endgame” headed for a record $2.8 billion in global ticket sales and after his string of successes, Iger would have a hard time outdoing himself. Disney’s scheduled box-office releases for 2020 have much less of a wow factor than last year’s, with “Avatar 2” pushed back to December 2021 and the next “Star Wars” film not coming until 2022. Then there’s the coronavirus. Disney, with its parks, cruise ships, hotels and movie business, will undoubtedly feel some painful effects of the potential pandemic. The Shanghai park, which Iger saw as the capstone project of his career, has already been closed for a month because of the flu-like virus. Earlier on Tuesday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warned Americans to prepare for possible closings of schools, sports arenas and other germ factories, calling it a matter of when, not if, the outbreak spreads in the country.Chapek, the new CEO, is a longtime Disney executive who has been running the company’s parks and resorts since 2015, and before that the consumer-products and home-video businesses. In his first Bloomberg Television appearance as Disney chief, he said he wasn’t ready to talk about how the coronavirus might affect Disney, but assured investors that “we’ll come back better and stronger than ever.” “Back” implies it’s going somewhere. And down is where the stock went Wednesday, bringing this year’s losses to 12%.As it is, the company’s investments in Disney+, its new streaming-TV service, are weighing on earnings. The launch of Disney+ went better than anyone expected, and it had 26.5 million subscribers as of December. But now comes the hard part: Comcast Corp.’s NBCUniversal will introduce its Peacock app in April, followed by AT&T Inc.’s spruced-up HBO Max in May. Apple TV+ could also pose a threat should Tim Cook decide to plow more money into the service. The early signups for Disney+ were easy wins. Keeping them will be harder and expensive, and those efforts will continue to disrupt the rest of the Disney empire. Iger could see his retirement date “out of the corner of my eye,” he wrote in a memoir, titled “The Ride of a Lifetime,” published in September. “It surfaces at unexpected times. It’s not enough to distract me, but it is enough to remind me that this ride is coming to an end.” In fact, the ride is about to get pretty wild. Maybe he saw that coming, too.To contact the author of this story: Tara Lachapelle at tlachapelle@bloomberg.netTo contact the editor responsible for this story: Beth Williams at bewilliams@bloomberg.netThis column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of Bloomberg LP and its owners.Tara Lachapelle is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering the business of entertainment and telecommunications, as well as broader deals. She previously wrote an M&A column for Bloomberg News.For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com/opinionSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2020 Bloomberg L.P.
- Zacks
Disney Changes CEOs Mid-Stream
No reason was given for CEO Bob Iger's departure, only that he found it an "optimal time to transition to a new CEO."
- Bloomberg
Bob Chapek’s Success With Disney Parks, Video Marked Him as CEO
(Bloomberg) -- When Bob Chapek was growing up in Indiana, the highlight of the year was the family trip to Disney World in Orlando, Florida.The 60-year-old executive went on to oversee that very park as head of Disney’s resorts business, and now he’s taking charge of the entire $70 billion-a-year empire as the new CEO. It’s a daunting moment for someone whose eyes still light up when he talks about walking through Disney World’s Main Street U.S.A.“At the core of everything, the center of our brand, is creative storytelling,” Chapek said in an interview on Bloomberg Television. “If the creative storytelling is right, then everything else is right.”Chapek’s elevation to chief executive officer, taking over for longtime Disney steward Bob Iger, surprised investors and analysts with its suddenness on Tuesday. But Chapek was long seen as a key contender for the job. Over his 27 years at Disney, he helped orchestrate the company’s home-video strategy and then overhauled how its parks operate.“Bob Chapek not only knows the company very well -- having run a few of our important businesses -- he is also someone that we know,” Iger, 69, told Bloomberg Television.The question now is how well Chapek manages businesses he hasn’t run yet, including one of the company’s biggest source of revenue and profit: television. Disney is embracing streaming as a core part of its operations, and Chapek will have to learn as he goes.The succession follows a huge run-up for Disney’s stock, largely due to the successful launch of its new Disney+ video streaming service last year. But the company faces headwinds, including a coronavirus outbreak that has shuttered theme parks and delayed movie releases in China.Disney shares were down 0.5% to $127.61 at 10:14 a.m. Wednesday in volatile New York trading, off their worst levels of the premarket session as investors digested the news.Chapek also will have to fill the Tom Ford loafers of Iger when it comes to making bold bets. Iger transformed Disney with the takeovers of Pixar, Lucasfilm and Marvel, and, more recently, the $71 billion acquisition of Fox’s entertainment operations.“We suspect investors will have a difficult time believing any successor will be able to match Mr. Iger’s results,” Citigroup Inc. analyst Jason Bazinet said in a note Tuesday.But Chapek’s track record shows he’s willing to adapt -- and wring maximum profit out the businesses he’s running. He was one of the architects of the company’s “vault” strategy, where Disney released classic movies like “Dumbo” on DVD every few years, creating a frenzy among parents and collectors.Named to lead Disney’s consumer products, Chapek went about reorganizing the division. He let go dozens of staffers in favor of an approach that focused on the company’s film franchises, rather than on categories of merchandise. He caught lightning in a bottle when the 2013 animated film “Frozen” caused a surge in demand for blue Princess Elsa dresses and Olaf the snowman backpacks.When he took over the theme parks, Chapek began implementing a strategy of tiered pricing at the resorts. Guests who wanted to visit on peak days paid as much as $209 a day for a ticket that allows them to hop between parks. Annual pass prices exceed $1,000. Nighttime events were created to charge extra for folks who wanted to attend.Chapek justified the increases through massive investments in new attractions. Under his watch, Disney opened the $5.5 billion Shanghai theme park. A new Avatar-themed attraction at Disney’s Animal Kingdom in Orlando brought new life to that resort. And two Star Wars-themed lands opened last year at a cost of about $1 billion each.Still, Chapek’s appointment came as a surprise to many. Senior executives were told only that morning. Some speculate that Iger wanted to avoid the prolonged succession struggle fought by his predecessor, Michael Eisner. The company’s directors also may have gotten inspiration from the quick transition achieved by Mark Parker, a fellow Disney board member, who stepped down from the CEO position at Nike Inc. in January.The move will likely be a disappointment for Kevin Mayer, Disney’s streaming chief, and other CEO hopefuls at Disney. That could include TV chief Peter Rice, who came over with the Fox acquisition.Instead the board picked a longtime Disney insider, steeped in the company’s unique culture. Disney has typically hired leaders from within, and Chapek will only be the seventh CEO in its nearly 100-year history.“It made perfect sense,” said Iger, who plans to stick around as chairman through 2021 while also overseeing the creative side of the business. “It also creates a really smooth transition.”(Updates with shares in eighth paragraph.)\--With assistance from Keith Gerstein.To contact the reporter on this story: Christopher Palmeri in Los Angeles at cpalmeri1@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Nick Turner at nturner7@bloomberg.net, Dave McCombsFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2020 Bloomberg L.P.
- Reuters
Disney shares down 2% after 'surprise' CEO change
Chapek headed Disney's parks business, its largest, and oversaw the opening of the company's first theme park and resort in mainland China and the creation of the new Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge lands at Disneyland and Walt Disney World. "Bob Chapek has less (content experience), having spent his Disney career in distribution of content and/or the physical world of parks, retail, and consumer products (ie, minimal storytelling, despite the fact that even he says that storytelling is at the center of Disney's value proposition)," Needham analyst Laura Martin said.
- Investing.com
Walt Disney Stock Falls 4%
Investing.com - Walt Disney (NYSE:DIS) Stock fell by 3.81% to trade at $123.35 by 14:02 (19:02 GMT) on Wednesday on the NYSE exchange.
- Zacks
The Zacks Analyst Blog Highlights: Apple, Walt Disney and Microsoft
The Zacks Analyst Blog Highlights: Apple, Walt Disney and Microsoft
- Reuters
Walt Disney's Iger steps down as CEO, parks head Chapek to take reins
"The company has gotten larger and more complex just in the recent 12 months," Iger said on a conference call on Tuesday, citing its purchase of 21st Century Fox and launch of direct-to-consumer services such as Disney+ last year. Chapek, who will be the seventh CEO in the company's nearly 100-year history, has most recently served as the chairman of Disney Parks, Experiences and Products.
- Zacks
ETFs to Play as Goldman Lowers US Q1 GDP Outlook
We discuss some ETF areas that investors can tap as aggravating coronavirus outbreak lead to a cut in U.S. GDP growth forecast.
- Bloomberg
Disney's Big Secret Is Finally Out
(Bloomberg Opinion) -- What a day for the Walt Disney Co. to let out its biggest secret.Just as investors were engrossed by news updates on the worsening coronavirus and its convulsive effect on global financial markets, Disney delivered another jolt by announcing longtime CEO Bob Iger was stepping down. Huh? It was the last thing shareholders saw coming. The company’s choice wasn’t even who most people expected. Bob Chapek, the head of Disney’s theme parks business, is taking over, effective immediately. Iger will remain chairman through to the end of 2021.It’s the most significant change to happen to the entertainment giant in more than a decade. Iger had become almost as much the face of the company as Walt Disney was himself, and was responsible for building it into the globally admired brand and content powerhouse that it is now. While Iger, at 69 years old, had been inching closer to retirement, it wasn’t supposed to come until next year. Shares of Disney fell 6% in after-hours trading, as investors tried to pick their jaws up off the floor. Anyone who read Iger’s memoir, “The Ride of a Lifetime,” which was released last year, might have been led to believe that another top Disney executive, Kevin Mayer, was next in line for the keys to the Magic Kingdom. Mayer oversees Disney’s new streaming-TV operations — the very business at the center of the new Disney. It’s become the focus of attention both inside and outside the company in recent months as Disney entered the industry’s streaming wars with the wildly successful launch of Disney+. Iger made repeated mentions of Mayer in the book, and few of Chapek. Mayer is “a master strategist and dealmaker,” Iger wrote. “A CEO couldn’t ask for a better strategic partner.” Partner. The question now is, will Mayer stay, after being passed over for what might be the most enviable job in corporate America? Even though Iger, during a conference call held for investors and analysts Tuesday, tried to soothe concerns about the seemingly abrupt move, it’s hard not to wonder about a larger backstory, one where there’s potentially some internal friction. As Iger kept putting off retirement over the years, other successor candidates seemed to get sick of waiting and left.Not choosing Mayer does raise an even bigger question: How do Iger and the company view the future of Disney? If only for their respective roles, Chapek in some ways represents Disney’s past, while Mayer represents the new Disney. All that being said, Chapek is a widely respected leader, and this certainly wasn’t a decision anyone at Disney would make lightly. From one Bob to another, Iger said Tuesday that it was the right time to transition to a new CEO and that Chapek “is absolutely the right person.” There’s little reason to question that. And it should be remembered, when Iger was first named CEO, investors weren't so sure about him, either.There is one telling nugget from Iger’s book that could be seen as presaging today’s turn of events. Passing over all his transformative dealmaking — buying Pixar, Marvel, Lucasfilm and then the big one, Rupert Murdoch’s 21st Century Fox — Iger instead highlights opening Disney’s Shanghai park as one of the defining moments of his career. Chapek played a big role in that. Chapek “oversaw the largest capital expansion in the history of our parks,” Iger said Tuesday, highlighting the Shanghai opening, as well as the “Star Wars” Galaxy Edge attraction at its U.S. parks and the company’s large fleet of cruise ships. Iger added that he and the board had identified Chapek as his likely successor “quite some time ago.”Iger isn’t saying goodbye just yet. He explained that part of the reason for stepping aside now is so that he can focus more on the creative side of Disney. What he wants to accomplish more than anything before he leaves is “getting everything right creatively.” Content is more important than ever as Disney almost single-handedly props up the box office and tries to lure fans to its streaming services, all the while integrating the Fox assets and keeping alive its traditional media networks that still drive the bulk of its profits. But that’s still only part of the reason for choosing to step down now. Whatever the case, it’s the end of an era for Disney; Iger has left an indelible mark, and left Disney better than it was before him. Chapek has big shoes to fill. To contact the author of this story: Tara Lachapelle at tlachapelle@bloomberg.netTo contact the editor responsible for this story: Beth Williams at bewilliams@bloomberg.netThis column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of Bloomberg LP and its owners.Tara Lachapelle is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering the business of entertainment and telecommunications, as well as broader deals. She previously wrote an M&A column for Bloomberg News.For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com/opinionSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2020 Bloomberg L.P.
- Zacks
Corona Crisis = Ripening Buys
The US equity markets, which appeared to be immune to the early onset of the coronavirus, are now infected with fear
- Business Wire
The Walt Disney Company’s Robert A. Iger and Bob Chapek to Hold Investor Call and Webcast Today at 4:30 PM EST / 1:30 PM PST
The Walt Disney Company (NYSE: DIS) will hold an investor conference call today with Robert A. Iger and Bob Chapek at 4:30 p.m. EST/1:30 p.m. PST. The call will be webcast.
