News Bob Iger is back! Chapek is out!!

[GhostHost1000]

The pandemic says HI.

so how did all the other Disney things do during the pandemic?

how did other companies do during the pandemic?

you can't just give up on the parks because something like covid might happen again....maybe they could buy a hand sanitizer company next to be safe

 

[Slpy3270]

so how did all the other Disney things do during the pandemic?

The networks were still pretty profitable during the pandemic, even when sports were suspended.

It seems they want to make an example of him so others with bigger pockets don't come looking to raid the hen house.

Considering the stock is up 3.5% they might be out of luck, unless this has more to do with inflation easing and Parker's promotion than Peltz despite the latter getting disproportionate news coverage (thanks to a certain Peacock network).

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

From moi?
That is the criticism of Peltz that he has no plan just a big mouth

No…about what they should concentrate on…

Peltz is after money. He’s a blow hard…really does remind of Bruce and James Dolan…but what Iger defenders (who appear to have been wakened from their crypts today) can’t really gloss are the analysis of the performance compared to the S&P, the return rate, the dividend Suspension and the debt due to fox dragging their ledger down…

And of course D+ not trending to profits.

None of that…hack talking aside…can be brushed away. And I HATE all that stuff

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

so how did all the other Disney things do during the pandemic?

how did other companies do during the pandemic?

you can't just give up on the parks because something like covid might happen again....maybe they could buy a hand sanitizer company next to be safe

Root of the problem isn’t it?

Uncle Sam cooked the books

Disney had by its own admission an 85% business disruption in 2020…and humans are supposed to buy its stock went from $100 to $191 a share?

sometimes in our back and forth we need to pump the breaks and just agree on the obvious

 

[fgmnt]

No…about what they should concentrate on…

Peltz is after money. He’s a blow hard…relaly does remind of Bruce and James Dolan…but what Iger defenders (who appear to have been wakened from their crypts today) can’t really gloss are the analysis of the performance compared to the S&P, the return rate, the dividend Suspension and the debt due to fox dragging their ledger down…

And of course D+ not trending to profits.

None of that…hack talking aside…can be brushed away. And I HATE all that stuff

I think if Iger can bring a plan for the next two years and onward to the shareholder meeting that institutional investors like, this will all blow over. If not, hoo boy. Buckle up.

 

[pdude81]

The networks were still pretty profitable during the pandemic, even when sports were suspended.


Considering the stock is up 3.5% they might be out of luck, unless this has more to do with inflation easing and Parker's promotion than Peltz despite the latter getting disproportionate news coverage (thanks to a certain Peacock network).

I also think it's funny that they point to paying too much for Fox and bidding too much for Sky as some of the reasons there are issues, when that was a **** measuring contest between two behemoths. Comcast bid up Fox to hurt Disney, though they could make good use of the IP in their parks/networks, and Disney pretended they needed Sky and then asked Fox to sit on their hands during the auction knowing Roberts would overpay for it. IMO Iger won that battle easily and I wouldn't point to it as evidence of failure.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

I also think it's funny that they point to paying too much for Fox and bidding too much for Sky as some of the reasons there are issues, when that was a **** measuring contest between two behemoths. Comcast bid up Fox to hurt Disney, though they could make good use of the IP in their parks/networks, and Disney pretended they needed Sky and then asked Fox to sit on their hands during the auction knowing Roberts would overpay for it. IMO Iger won that battle easily and I wouldn't point to it as evidence of failure.

In that scenario…the winner is actually the loser.

Brian Roberts outsmarted Eisner when Roy offed him…and he outsmarted Iger several times over the last decade +

He’s playing chess…not checkers.
The reason Comcast still exists as such a sucky company is he’s far better than it is

 

[GhostHost1000]

I agree…but don’t be surprised if over there coming weeks it becomes know part of this is a political hit as well…
Alarming details

Yeah i wouldn’t be surprised by that…I still go back to what I’ve said before, Disney has created their own mess regardless

 

[Tha Realest]

can we please not get into race and politics here... this is about Disney doing stupid things and winning stupid prizes

It’s a bigoted and prejudicial statement about wide swaths of people regarding their immutable characteristics. It’s likely a violation of the TOU here.

 

[Disney Analyst]

 

[Slpy3270]

In that scenario…the winner is actually the loser.

Brian Roberts outsmarted Eisner when Roy offed him…and he outsmarted Iger several times over the last decade +

He’s playing chess…not checkers.
The reason Comcast still exists as such a sucky company is he’s far better than it is

Helps that he basically runs the company like a dictatorship, since it has dual class stock and he controls 33% of the voting power. Trian actually tried to go after Comcast in 2020 but ran into a wall quickly once he realized dual-class stock doesn't trade the same way singular class shares do.

That said, the calls to get rid of either Sky or NBCUni have been growing in the last few years. And he's been listening: he tried to spin-off NBCUni and merge it with Electronic Arts (yes, really) with him still in control a year and a half ago, but that fell apart.

It's unlikely Disney investors like Peltz or were enticed by him in this...awkward interview this morning but they may vote for him in March anyway just to spite Iger and the board.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

Peltz is quack town. No doubt.

But the numbers are on his side for the argument he’s making…and it is the “pro-investor” argument. That doesn’t mean park or Star Wars fans…Disney is owned mostly by hedges…not fans.

His history has been winning these fights more than not.

Two very easy things will be his if he pushes it:
1. One - probably more - board seats
2. Iger announcing a formal end date and an outside ceo being pushed.

You know who I bet Peltz has been talking to behind the scenes? The one person on earth who has experience doing this exact thing…
Stan gold

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

Helps that he basically runs the company like a dictatorship, since it has dual class stock and he controls 33% of the voting power. Trian actually tried to go after Comcast in 2020 but ran into a wall quickly once he realized dual-class stock doesn't trade the same way singular class shares do.

That said, the calls to get rid of either Sky or NBCUni have been growing in the last few years. And he's been listening: he tried to spin-off NBCUni and merge it with Electronic Arts (yes, really) with him still in control a year and a half ago, but that fell apart.


It's unlikely Disney investors like Peltz or were enticed by him in this...awkward interview this morning but they may vote for him in March anyway just to spite Iger and the board.

Good to be the king, ain’t it?

Iger made the foolish Edward VIII mistake

 

[drnilescrane]

I watched the interview. I don't think Peltz has what it takes to be effective on that board and with this company - and he doesn't understand that.

However, the deck does make the good point that the organization has the twin issues of gross inefficiency and nickel-and-diming.

Disney spends 4x as much as its competitors on an attraction (or an animated movie) yet fights with vendors over the cost of sauce packets, nor will they pay people properly. They won't spend the money to get quality, and instead have to resort to gouging customers everywhere to make up the margin.

Hire good people in the back office, and pay them properly, you wouldn't need 4x as many of them. It's not a long term way to run a company efficiently.

 

[DisneyNittany]

It did in 2020…and everyone thought their stock was worth $191 a share

…so stupid I don’t Know whether to laugh, cry or wind my watch

Did not expect to come to to a WDW message board and see a Mike Lange reference, but here we are.

 

[pdude81]

In that scenario…the winner is actually the loser.

Brian Roberts outsmarted Eisner when Roy offed him…and he outsmarted Iger several times over the last decade +

He’s playing chess…not checkers.
The reason Comcast still exists as such a sucky company is he’s far better than it is

I thought it was a good play for Comcast to go after Fox at the time, as they either get the catalog or force Disney to pay too much for it. He got drunk at some point in the battle and went after Sky, which meant paying Disney in cash for Fox's minority stake in Sky and bringing the Fox deal back down to Earth.

One thing I'll give you for sure, he at least learns from his mistakes (which I'm not sure Iger is capable of yet). He's going to do the same thing to Disney when it comes to Hulu and make them overpay to keep it. They can't afford Peacock to merge into Hulu and be a major competitor.

 

[Tha Realest]

I thought it was a good play for Comcast to go after Fox at the time, as they either get the catalog or force Disney to pay too much for it. He got drunk at some point in the battle and went after Sky, which meant paying Disney in cash for Fox's minority stake in Sky and bringing the Fox deal back down to Earth.

One thing I'll give you for sure, he at least learns from his mistakes (which I'm not sure Iger is capable of yet). He's going to do the same thing to Disney when it comes to Hulu and make them overpay to keep it. They can't afford Peacock to merge into Hulu and be a major competitor.

Since we tend towards a myopic view of the parks, look at it this way - Disney is going to finally pay billions towards aggressive parks expansions. Unfortunately, it’ll be for Universal parks.

 

[GhostHost1000]

Since we tend towards a myopic view of the parks, look at it this way - Disney is going to finally pay billions towards aggressive parks expansions. Unfortunately, it’ll be for Universal parks.

Ouch. Truth mic dropped there

 

[Slpy3270]

Convincing argument from CNBC's Alex Sherman (one of the more level-headed journalists there) that Peltz's arguments should focus less on Iger's track record (acquisitions, stock performance, revenue, etc.) and more on Iger's failure to groom a proper successor.

Disney board exposed itself to activist intervention, but Peltz may be overreaching

Activist investor Nelson Peltz wants a Disney board seat, but his argument should be focused on succession planning rather than stock performance.

www.cnbc.com

 

[el_super]

It's unlikely Disney investors like Peltz or were enticed by him in this...awkward interview this morning but they may vote for him in March anyway just to spite Iger and the board.

True... but to be fair he's taking the easy route here in saying the things that investors were already thinking.

In the short term I think the following will likely happen:

Disney will have a bad Q1
Iger will announce cuts/layoffs mostly for streaming and DTC.
Peltz will not end up on the board, but they will reach some kind of "agreement"
Disney will announce some tentative succession plan

Peltz is really just enumerating the issues a lot of investors have with Disney and their bad sucession planning and overspending. They would have to address these issues whether Peltz was in the room or not.

On the parks side, probably not a lot will change barring an actual recession. Disney still seems committed to Iger's original "2019" plan, which would ultimately see a reduction in a lot of those "options" people seem to hate now. As prices rise and attendance drops, the need for things like Genie+ and Lightning Lanes goes down.