Can Bob Iger bring Disney back to its glorious days?

Can Disney benefit from a change in the leadership team?

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Disney surprised both investors and customers recently with the announcement that it was firing its CEO Bob Chapek, and replacing him with Bob Iger, who had previously led the company for 15 years, from 2005 to 2020 as its chief executive officer. The board of the company did not say it out loud, but the key reason for firing Chapek was his woke views and his fight with Florida Governor Ron DeSantis.

Bob Iger’s track record testifies for his ability to lead Disney successfully

The former veteran at Disney, Bob Iger, had a remarkably successful career with the entertainment giant. During his tenure, he achieved many things. This includes increasing Disney’s market cap to an all-time high. The company’s market capitalization grew at the time from $41 billion to more than $150 billion, making it one of the world’s most valuable companies. During Chapek’s tenure, the company’s share price did go up initially, but then it returned to its starting point, which means that the company did not gain in market valuation during his time.

Disney expanded significantly under Iger’s leadership

Iger was successful partly because he reinvigorated Disney’s core businesses. He diverted a lot of funds and energy toward animation, live-action films, and theme parks, helping to drive the company’s growth. He also expanded Disney’s media and entertainment business: Iger made a series of high-profile acquisitions, including Marvel, Pixar, Lucasfilm, and 21st Century Fox, expanding Disney’s portfolio of intellectual property and giving it a commanding position in the global media and entertainment industry.

Perhaps among the most notable achievements of Iger is that he invested in ‘new content’ platforms, such as Disney+, Hulu, and ESPN+, giving Disney an edge in the streaming wars.

Given all of this, it seems that Disney’s share price can benefit from having a new-old CEO with a long experience in the company’s business. You can trade the share’s CFDs with a reliable broker like easymarkets, where you can enter either long or short positions.

Bob Iger still has to address many challenges

Despite his impressive track record, Iger faces a steep challenge. Among the main issues that he will have to work on are the streaming-related activities on which Disney has relied heavily in recent years, but it is facing a difficult stage. This is mainly due to operating losses associated with video-on-demand platforms such as Disney Plus, ESPN Plus and Hulu.

The streaming market is indeed becoming more competitive, as companies like Netflix are losing subscribers and trying to introduce plans that include advertisements at lower prices. Mr. Iger will have to deal with increasingly harsh market forces. He will probably need to also come up with innovative solutions to Disney’s persistent issues, all while having to navigate through a higher interest environment, where financing new projects can become considerably costly.

Will Iger rise to the challenge?

Despite his track record, Iger still must work on making Disney’s streaming business more efficient. Disney has other revenue sources like its theme parks, studio entertainment, and consumer products, and thus Iger will have his hands full. Hopefully for shareholders, he will manage to bring Disney back to its glorious days and recover its market valuation.