News Walt Disney Company plans to spend $17 billion at Walt Disney World over the next ten years

flynnibus

Premium Member
I love Disney but their stock has been stagnant for a decade, unless you’re simply looking for a safe place to park money with no return I don’t understand why anyone would choose their stock over the thousands of better performing stocks.

Stagnant for a decade?

It was consistently paying a dividend each year... it split in the mid 2000s.. then from 2011 onward was a rocket ship.. growing 5x in price in 10yrs while still paying it's dividend each year. It was growing as a huge conglomerate of everything media. It was expanding it's markets including lucrative divisions like P&R. Then coming out of pandemic, it doubled in price.. again.

You don't understand why anyone would have DIS on their radar?
 

flynnibus

Premium Member
This is also true.

The point I was trying to make is posting a chart of Disney and Comcast and saying, “hey look they are both down today” is a gross oversimplification of what is going on.
While also tracking the daily stock price while the world twiddles it's fingers. The daily movement isn't indicative of the company's future... alas many here keep trying to build that narrative of how the company is doomed.. just look at the stock price!
 

Trauma

Well-Known Member
While also tracking the daily stock price while the world twiddles it's fingers. The daily movement isn't indicative of the company's future... alas many here keep trying to build that narrative of how the company is doomed.. just look at the stock price!
I’m not trying to build that narrative.

My specific narrative is the company IS doomed under the leadership of Bob Iger.

Until that changes I don’t see a major turnaround happening.
 

flynnibus

Premium Member
I’m not trying to build that narrative.

My specific narrative is the company IS doomed under the leadership of Bob Iger.

Until that changes I don’t see a major turnaround happening.
I'm not in that camp.

As much as I have issues with Iger choices - I don't think the near-term is gloom due to him. I think the bigger concerns for Disney transcend Iger... transition to DTC... what happens to ABC and ESPN... what happens to movies as costs continue to escalate while the ticket per person model shrinks?

None of those things are due to Iger... and I don't think ANYONE has cracked the code on what success for those categories means in the future. Iger hasn't sank any of those categories, and no one has won them yet either. So is Iger horrible there? Or trending vs the crowd?

I do like they are acting now with meaningful re-orgs and not just changing 'responsibilities' at the SVP levels. You can't merge countless entertainment companies and not shed or realign. They are finally doing some of that and not just turning off brands. They are facing some of their demons with pricing/posture in Parks&Resorts instead of heartless addressing of customers that chapek allowed.

I haven't seen from Bob how they really plan to address the main concerns I outlined above.. so I don't damn his approach. I also don't see anyone else with the answers yet. I am more concerned that the company lacks a business icon to lead them. The board seems weak.... and I don't think anyone can stomach the Iger-in-holding-pattern we had before. The succession and what direction that person will push for is what I am concerned about Iger.
 

Trauma

Well-Known Member
I'm not in that camp.

As much as I have issues with Iger choices - I don't think the near-term is gloom due to him. I think the bigger concerns for Disney transcend Iger... transition to DTC... what happens to ABC and ESPN... what happens to movies as costs continue to escalate while the ticket per person model shrinks?

None of those things are due to Iger... and I don't think ANYONE has cracked the code on what success for those categories means in the future. Iger hasn't sank any of those categories, and no one has won them yet either. So is Iger horrible there? Or trending vs the crowd?

I do like they are acting now with meaningful re-orgs and not just changing 'responsibilities' at the SVP levels. You can't merge countless entertainment companies and not shed or realign. They are finally doing some of that and not just turning off brands. They are facing some of their demons with pricing/posture in Parks&Resorts instead of heartless addressing of customers that chapek allowed.

I haven't seen from Bob how they really plan to address the main concerns I outlined above.. so I don't damn his approach. I also don't see anyone else with the answers yet. I am more concerned that the company lacks a business icon to lead them. The board seems weak.... and I don't think anyone can stomach the Iger-in-holding-pattern we had before. The succession and what direction that person will push for is what I am concerned about Iger.
Out of all of that I think you hit the freaking nail on the head with the last part.

The leader of Disney needs to be an Icon.

I suggest Oprah and people ridiculed me. I know it sounds ridiculous, but at least someone like her.

Someone who can speak directly to the fans and capture their hearts and spark their imagination for what’s to come.

There can always be a suit behind the scenes making sure the Icon running the company doesn’t run it off the rails.

With a leader like that the company already has all the other pieces in place to soar above the rest.
 

flynnibus

Premium Member
Out of all of that I think you hit the freaking nail on the head with the last part.

The leader of Disney needs to be an Icon.

I suggest Oprah and people ridiculed me. I know it sounds ridiculous, but at least someone like her.

Someone who can speak directly to the fans and capture their hearts and spark their imagination for what’s to come.

There can always be a suit behind the scenes making sure the Icon running the company doesn’t run it off the rails.

With a leader like that the company already has all the other pieces in place to soar above the rest.

I don't want a figurehead...

But if you are going to build a globally unique business, a trend setter, and one scaled to be on the world stage... you need a strong visionary paired with thought leaders in their fields.

You can have your Joe Rohde types in their divisions... but the person leading the global conglomerate needs to be dog that can run with anyone and work at the macro levels, not just be 'a really good creative' or 'really likable' etc. That role is a business person through and through... but they need vision and execution too.

Hire a spokesperson/ambassador if you want a likeable face people will attach to. When someone is negotiating with Comcast or Fox... I want a savvy business person, not a personality.
 

Trauma

Well-Known Member
I don't want a figurehead...

But if you are going to build a globally unique business, a trend setter, and one scaled to be on the world stage... you need a strong visionary paired with thought leaders in their fields.

You can have your Joe Rohde types in their divisions... but the person leading the global conglomerate needs to be dog that can run with anyone and work at the macro levels, not just be 'a really good creative' or 'really likable' etc. That role is a business person through and through... but they need vision and execution too.

Hire a spokesperson/ambassador if you want a likeable face people will attach to. When someone is negotiating with Comcast or Fox... I want a savvy business person, not a personality.
I think some guy named Walt did a good job.

He was a horrible businessman.
 

Casper Gutman

Well-Known Member
Gang, unless the entire American business and financial community suddenly discards doctrines they have clung to religiously for four decades, you aren’t doing better then Iger. The problems are SYSTEMIC. And unless you’re willing to say, “Companies have responsibilities to groups other then their shareholders and demanding gains quarter-over-quarter is stupid and destructive,” you’re part of the system and Iger is your guy.
 

JD80

Well-Known Member
Yet, the stock remains with strong targets and recommendations.

We are seeing pressure from all the uncertainty and near-term issues like Hulu-buyout and DeSantis noise. While the street usually likes cuts and re-orgs... Disney's moves here have been huge, but they've also been slow without any sexy new 'direction' to excite investors. The biggest apple being dangled is D+'s expense future.. and I don't think the market is convinced yet. Add in the Hulu uncertainty and you have a bunch of people being cautious vs optimistic.

Right now Disney lacks the punch of a 'bright future' in their DTC segment, so it's easy for people to pile on smaller issues and tilt them to a negative side. With so much yet to come with how the world will transition away from the legacy networks... I think people really are looking at Disney to be the leader in how this will work, and they haven't cracked the code yet. Because they have so much in their portfolio that stands to loose from this transition, they shoulder much of the industry's burden to make this transition work.

These topics are dragging optimism about Disney down - but its not dragging down their fundamentals at the same scale. So this is a market problem - and less a operational issue. When Disney starts paying the dividend, has D+ outlook that is better, and gets the Hulu story behind them they should get back to floating with the market.

Breakout won't happen until they get some sexy DTC story the market will love for the future of media.

I'm pretty sure the looming default has a big chunk of the underlying performance of the market as a whole.
 

Indy_UK

Well-Known Member
I bet Disney isn’t happy that they’re going to be forced to buy the remainder of Hulu at a time when they dont really have the money to spend and are likely to fold Hulu into Disney+ anyway
 

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