Disney is trying to adapt in a whole new world

Yesterday marked exactly one year since Bob Iger returned to Disney for a second stint as CEO. And while his latest tenure hasn’t exactly gone smoothly thus far, Iger has a plan to turn things around in a time of uncertainty for the House of Mouse.

The current situation: Disney’s movie studio has struggled to produce major blockbusters since the Covid pandemic. Other than last year’s Avatar sequel, it hasn’t had a movie gross over $1 billion since 2019, when Disney produced seven of the nine movies that did so. And the company’s latest attempt – The Marvels and its $275 million budget – has been the worst-performing member of the 33-film MCU after its first two weeks in theaters.

When it comes to linear TV and streaming, things aren’t much better:

• Disney has reported $10+ billion in streaming losses since 2019, and began cutting billions of dollars in annual content spending earlier this year.
• The company is also considering selling ABC and its eight owned TV stations, along with taking on a financial partner for its ESPN sports empire, amid an industry-wide decline in linear TV viewership outside of live sports.

There is a bright spot, however. Disney’s theme parks reported a 17% annual bump in revenue through Q3 of this year to reach $24 billion.

But that’s about where the bright spots end. Overall, Disney’s stock is currently trading at ~$95/share, which is about the same as when Iger re-took the helm and roughly half its value compared to November 2021.

👀 Looking ahead… After flooding Disney+ and theaters with new content for several years, Iger says he’s going back to the bear necessities and reducing quantity in an attempt to improve creative quality. Disney is scheduled to release seven films next year – including Deadpool 3, Inside Out 2, and a live-action Lion King prequel – down from nearly three dozen in 2023.

• Iger has also recently cut jobs and hiked prices across Disney’s services in an effort to improve profitability, and revealed plans to nearly double Disney’s investment in theme parks over the next decade to reach ~$60 billion.
• He’s expected to stick around as CEO until at least early 2025, per CNBC.