Disney (DIS) is set to get a new executive team as long-time CEO Bob Iger, who returned from his retirement to take charge once again in late 2022, hangs up his spurs today, March 18. He would hand the baton to Josh D’Amaro, an insider who was formerly the chairman of Disney Experiences.
The company has also created a new post for president and chief creative officer, which would be headed by Dana Walden, who would report directly to D’Amaro. Walden has announced a new leadership team that would bring the company’s film, streaming, television, and games businesses under her. She has named Debra OConnell as the chairman of Disney Entertainment Television. OConnell would oversee the television brands and Hulu Originals, alongside overseeing ABC News and the television stations owned by ABC.
Disney Gets a New Leadership Team
Joe Earley and Adam Smith have been named co-presidents of Disney’s Direct-to-Consumer (DTC) business and will be responsible for the strategy and financial performance of Disney+ and Hulu. Alan Bergman, who’s the chairman of Disney Entertainment, Studios, and Walden, would jointly oversee the DTC business, which highlights the strategic importance of that asset for Disney.
Gaming has been another strategic focus for Disney, and the company has put that business under the Entertainment segment. Previously, it was part of the Experiences segment that houses the company’s theme parks.
Disney’s Restructuring Remains a Work in Progress
This is Disney’s third restructuring since 2020, when then-CEO Bob Chapek announced the creation of the Disney Media and Entertainment Distribution (DMED) division in October 2020. He put streaming at the center of Disney’s strategy and centralized decisions related to content distribution. However, the strategy backfired in a way, and Disney lost its “magic” touch with viewers.
A poor box office stint and ballooning streaming losses, which peaked at almost $1.5 billion in fiscal Q4 2022, led to a leadership change at Disney, and the company bought back Chapek’s predecessor, Bob Iger, to head the company for the second time.
Iger, too, tried his hand at Disney's turnaround. He dismantled the centralized structure and eliminated the DMED division. Under his watch, Disney moved to three reporting segments. These include ESPN along with Experiences and Entertainment. He chased streaming profitability while giving up the company’s obsession with subscriber growth. He also aggressively cut costs and put creativity at the core of Disney’s business.
Disney’s Streaming Business Has Turned Profitable
The strategy paid off, and the streaming business posted an operating profit of $450 million in the first quarter of fiscal 2026, representing a margin of 8.4%. For the full year, the company expects margins to be at 10%.
Under Iger, Disney doubled down on customer satisfaction at its hugely profitable theme parks and announced a multi-year, multi-billion-dollar investment to revamp and expand the segment, which is its crown jewel. The move came after multiple complaints from customers who were irked by the experience at the parks.
In movies, Iger leaned on quality over quantity. While mixed, Disney’s box office performance has also improved under Iger. Disney was the top-grossing studio in 2024 and 2025.
Meanwhile, even as Disney’s financial performance improved significantly under Iger, the stock did not receive the kind of warmth from markets as one would have expected. DIS stock underperformed the broader markets under Iger’s watch despite visible improvement across most metrics, particularly streaming profitability.
DIS Stock Forecast
Brokerages are quite upbeat on DIS stock, and it has a consensus rating of “Strong Buy” from the 31 analysts polled by Barchart. The stock’s mean target price is $133.70, which is 33% higher than the current price.
There has been a disconnect between Disney’s price action and earnings, as while its profits have increased, the stock hasn’t really gone anywhere over the last three years. As a result, its valuation multiples have contracted, and DIS trades at a forward price-to-earnings (P/E) multiple of just over 15x, well below where its average S&P 500 Index ($SPX) peer trades at. The multiples look reasonably attractive to me, considering the double-digit earnings growth the company is expected to deliver in 2026 and 2027.
To be sure, there are concerns over Disney’s business, particularly theme parks, in light of the deteriorating global macro picture. The Trump administration’s tougher stance on immigration has hit tourism and international tourist arrivals. International tourists tend to spend more than the global audience at Disney’s theme parks, and a slowdown there has hit the company’s most lucrative business. The war in Iran is not helping Disney's cause either. Moreover, markets would be in a wait-and-watch mode as the new management team takes the company forward.
All said, Disney boasts some of the most iconic intellectual property (IP) in the entertainment space and is the literal “cradle to grave” business, offering something for practically every age group. The value for legacy IP assets was on full display during the bidding war for Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) that Paramount Skydance (PSKY) eventually won.
I believe Iger has handed over Disney in a much better position to his successor than he inherited in 2022. I remain constructive on the stock given the stock brand and tepid valuations and see it as a decent buy here.
On the date of publication, Mohit Oberoi had a position in: DIS . All information and data in this article is solely for informational purposes. For more information please view the Barchart Disclosure Policy here.
