News The Walt Disney Company Board of Directors Extends Robert A. Iger’s Contract as CEO Through 2026

[Serpico Jones]

Still think Feige should’ve taken the DC job last year. Marvel is about to undergo drastic changes and seems like it’s at the very least at a major crossroads if not completely tapped out. The last three F4 movies have all been failures and who knows about X-Men. The mutants could be key to turning things around but they need to be extra careful.

 

[Stripes]

I only saw one upgrade this week out of four new analyses (others were maintain). Would you link me to what you're seeing?

Barclays and UBS raised their price targets to $135 and $140, respectively.

Barclays price target increase of over 40% correlated with a one-day increase of 2.5% and the UBS price target increase correlated with a one-day gain of 1%.

Needham increased to $145 on 3/28, correlating with a stock increase of 1.5%.

All of this accounts for the increase of Disney stock versus their competitors this week.

 

[Disney Irish]

Still think Feige should’ve taken the DC job last year.

Why so you get a million clickbait articles and youtube videos claiming that Disney drove off one of the most successful producers of all time. No thanks. I'm glad he stayed. Shows he has loyalty even when things aren't as successful as they used to be.

Marvel is about to undergo drastic changes and seems like it’s at the very least at a major crossroads if not completely tapped out. The last three F4 movies have all been failures and who knows about X-Men. The mutants could be key to turning things around but they need to be extra careful.

When you have something that has run this long there will be stumbles and missteps along the way. Its where things go from here that will be interesting to watch. We'll see what happens with DP3 in a couple months. It might be the palate cleanser they need right now to get them back on track.

 

[Br0ckford]

Yall are mean. This thread is extremely interesting but some of what I'm reading is not passion for Disney, it's petty nastiness.

 

[WoundedDreamer]

All of this is last ditch desperate noise from Trian. I look forward to 17% for Peltz on Wednesday and the trolls having to put their Peltz action figures away.

I think predictions that Peltz will lose are completely reasonable, but only 17%? That seems low. Assuming the (highly suspect and not to be trusted because it is anonymous) report is correct, he should already have a significant amount of that baked in. And that's before any of the large institutions start casting. I think the low floor is 30%. He could still lose by a substantial amount, but 17% seems too low.

 

[JoeCamel]

Yall are mean. This thread is extremely interesting but some of what I'm reading is not passion for Disney, it's petty nastiness.

Welcome to the world

 

[Disney Irish]

Yall are mean. This thread is extremely interesting but some of what I'm reading is not passion for Disney, it's petty nastiness.

As the saying goes, you will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy.

 

[Vegas Disney Fan]

I haven’t been following more recently but if I’ve got this right, Peltz is getting a lot more votes than originally thought and Iger is in trouble?

Depends on your perspective, some think Peltz getting on the board means the end of Disney as we know it, others, like myself, think Peltz getting on the board will have little affect on Iger (and Disney) beyond being a contradictory voice and offering more balance to the discussion, he’d still need to persuade 10-11 other people his opinion is more valid than theirs though.

 

[lazyboy97o]

Depends on your perspective, some think Peltz getting on the board means the end of Disney as we know it, others, like myself, think Peltz getting on the board will have little affect on Iger (and Disney) beyond being a contradictory voice and offering more balance to the discussion, he’d still need to persuade 10-11 other people his opinion is more valid than theirs though.

Balance towards what? You want more DVC and upcharges instead of attractions? What positives will he push?

 

[Casper Gutman]

Depends on your perspective, some think Peltz getting on the board means the end of Disney as we know it, others, like myself, think Peltz getting on the board will have little affect on Iger (and Disney) beyond being a contradictory voice and offering more balance to the discussion, he’d still need to persuade 10-11 other people his opinion is more valid than theirs though.

What... kind... of... balance?

A contradictory voice is not necessarily a positive thing. If you have 11 committee members who don't want to nail their feet to the floor and stick sparklers up their nose, the one guy who does isn't adding a lot of value. And when he starts using his billions and access to inside information to coerce, goad, and blackmail other members to side with him...

 

[JoeCamel]

Balance towards what? You want more DVC and upcharges instead of attractions?

I want to see a larger dividend and stock buybacks to stymie parks investments......

- N. Peltz

 

[Vegas Disney Fan]

Balance towards what? You want more DVC and upcharges instead of attractions? What positives will he push?

No, that’s what the current board gives us, that’s why I want a change.

 

[Casper Gutman]

No, that’s what the current board gives us, that’s why I want a change.

You do understand things can be MUCH worse right? Even less expansion, bigger budget cuts, even more IP reliance - these are the things Peltz has said he wants to do.

 

[lazyboy97o]

No, that’s what the current board gives us, that’s why I want a change.

You previously said Disney abandoning park investment as mature in favor of hotel and timeshare investment was incredible. Now you don’t believe it?

The best return on investment in fixed amusements isn’t well themed dark rides. It’s bare roller coasters and off-the-shelf flat rides. For Disney its also timeshares. There is a reason that the vast majority of regional amusements parks were once themed experiences and now only really pay lip service to theme.

 

[Vegas Disney Fan]

You previously said Disney abandoning park investment as mature in favor of hotel and timeshare investment was incredible. Now you don’t believe it?

The best return on investment in fixed amusements isn’t well themed dark rides. It’s bare roller coasters and off-the-shelf flat rides. For Disney its also timeshares. There is a reason that the vast majority of regional amusements parks were once themed experiences and now only really pay lip service to theme.

I think you have me confused with another poster, I’ve never said they should stop investing in the parks in favor of timeshares.

 

[Sir_Cliff]

You do understand things can be MUCH worse right? Even less expansion, bigger budget cuts, even more IP reliance - these are the things Peltz has said he wants to do.

I mean, look at what happened to Boeing and their business involved manufacturing aeroplanes which is rather higher stakes than executing quality theming and customer service.

 

[Vegas Disney Fan]

You do understand things can be MUCH worse right? Even less expansion, bigger budget cuts, even more IP reliance - these are the things Peltz has said he wants to do.

Worse than a big blue box? Worse than not starting a new ride in 5 years? Worse than a huge Hilton looking DVC at the Polynesian? Worse than Pixar Pier? Worse than losing a billion dollars in one year on flop after flop after flop? Worse than a fleet of new cruise ships that are vastly inferior to the previous ships in every way?

I could go on and on, the last 5 years have been disastrous for Disney, theoretically it could be worse but they’ll have to try really hard to do any worse than they currently are.

 

[WoundedDreamer]

It is worth pointing out that Marvel is kind of in a precarious spot. The following are the Phase 2, 3, 4, and 5 inflation-adjusted grosses. I've excluded any Avengers films and the 2021 films released before No Way Home.

As we can see, with the exception of No Way Home, Marvel's Phase 4/5 films have been below-average performers. This malaise is pretty apparent when looking at direct-sequel grosses. Marvel released 7 direct sequels in Phases 4/5. Of these, 5 of the 7 sequels did worse than their direct predecessor. The worst performing sequels were The Marvels (15% of the gross of Captain Marvel), Wakanda Forever (55% of the gross of Black Panther), and Quantumania (63% of the gross of Ant-Man and the Wasp).

The best performing direct sequels were No Way Home (160% of the gross of Far From Home) and Multiverse of Madness (116% of the gross of Doctor Strange). Love and Thunder and GotG also performed fairly well, with more modest declines in their grosses relative to their direct predecessors. And while Wakanda Forever was disappointing relative to Black Panther, it still performed well.

But there's a problem. Guardians of the Galaxy, one of their more robust franchises, is finished. It was meant to be the conclusion of that particular group. Thor's future is murky, with the actor expressing some concerns with the direction of the character. And of course, Disney does not own the Spider-Man franchise.

It seems their only sustainable and successful characters/franchises are the Black Panther cast and Doctor Strange. Nearly all their other franchises are either poor performers, in limbo, or finished. Their recently launched characters (unfortunately launched when they were experiencing impacts from COVID restrictions), are unproven at the box office.

It seems like Marvel's best move is to focus on Wakandan characters, Doctor Strange, Deadpool, and potentially some of the marketable characters launched in 2021. Some of Marvel's problems are self inflicted, others are bad luck (the Kang situation, Chinese embargoes, Chadwick Boseman). But The Fantastic Four is going to be a critical test for Marvel. It has to succeed.

This is here for context. Everyone can do with this as they will.

 

[Casper Gutman]

Worse than a big blue box? Worse than not starting a new ride in 5 years? Worse than a huge Hilton looking DVC at the Polynesian? Worse than Pixar Pier? Worse than losing a billion dollars in one year on flop after flop after flop? Worse than a fleet of new cruise ships that are vastly inferior to the previous ships in every way?

I could go on and on, the last 5 years have been disastrous for Disney, theoretically it could be worse but they’ll have to try really hard to do any worse than they currently are.

Yes, it could be MUCH worse VERY easily and they wouldn't have to try hard.

Lazy is right. What do you think Wall Street means when they demand strong ROI on a ride? Which shows clearer ROI, a new Pirates or a new bare coaster? A new bare coaster or a new paid line-skipping system?

 

[Sir_Cliff]

Worse than a big blue box? Worse than not starting a new ride in 5 years? Worse than a huge Hilton looking DVC at the Polynesian? Worse than Pixar Pier?

I have been to Walt Disney Studios Paris and Paradise Pier 1.0, so it isn't hard for me to imagine things being worse. I'm sure ROI for a new Guardians of the Galaxy rollercoaster at Epcot would have been improved by just demolishing the Universe of Energy pavilion and building a big outdoor coaster with some props placed around it. More basic DVCs are, I am sure, far better as far as ROI is concerned than lavishly-themed new resorts, so not sure why Peltz being on the board would mean less rather than more of them.

There are plenty of parks and tourist destinations that are worse than WDW and DL, so it's not hard to imagine how they could also decline further.