Disney (NYSE:DIS) might be responsible for impressive cinematic dramas and excitement in both theme parks and movie properties alike, but the boardroom drama is getting every bit as interesting. In fact, its recent round saw some changes to the board, a likely unhappy major investor, and some more potential changes coming soon. The bulk of Disney investors aren’t buying the ticket, though, and sent shares down fractionally in Tuesday afternoon’s trading.
One of Disney’s biggest investors, Trian Fund Management, has been pushing for board seats for some time now, putting support behind former Disney Chief Financial Officer Jay Rasulo and Trian’s own head, Nelson Peltz. But both Peltz and Rasulo were rebuffed by the larger Disney board, and the holes were replaced with Jeremy Darroch and James Gorman, formerly of Sky and Morgan Stanley, respectively. Peltz, meanwhile, wasn’t about to leave well enough alone—mostly because Disney’s performance of late hasn’t exactly been “well enough” to begin with—and so is preparing a white paper to bring up some new potential changes that could help.
A Refocus on Streaming, Among Other Things
One of Peltz’s ideas, reports note, includes the idea of bundling ESPN with a different streaming provider. Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX) was brought up with the idea that Netflix is willing to do sports-adjacent content, so why not step into sports outright? But with ESPN already drawing new interest from the NFL, it may not be the best time to branch out ESPN’s reach. That exclusivity—especially with the NFL’s support—might prove helpful. But expanding ESPN’s reach by making it available with Disney+ or with Netflix might help it as well. It’s certainly a possibility, but there’s really only one way to find out in a case like this.
Is Disney a Buy Right Now?
Turning to Wall Street, analysts have a Strong Buy consensus rating on DIS stock based on 16 Buys and four Holds assigned in the past three months, as indicated by the graphic below. After a 9.96% loss in its share price over the past year, the average DIS price target of $103.58 per share implies 6.25% upside potential.
