[CC may contain inaccuracies] What did you make of this release? Well, Bob, Bob Iger is back and he did
deliver in terms of cutting costs, reducing capital spending, and
generating .6 billion of free cash flow.
There's more to come on that side, but it's more interesting to see what are
they going to be doing with such diverse businesses to try to get higher
shareholder value. And that's the interesting part because
it moves away from the operating results.
And analysts are still reducing earnings for this year and next year, as I did,
but also looking at the spin offs possibly of ESPN.
But he's doubling down on streaming with direct to consumer.
They will buy the part that they don't own from Hulu, from Comcast, and they've
got to figure out how to make money from film, theatrical to broadcast to
streaming. And that's tough.
And it's very different than there really dominant position that they have
with Disney Parks, which this quarter on the numbers again only did really well
because you had a 94 4% increase in the international parks, while domestic
parks, particularly in Florida, the growth was only 4%.
You know, they're already in the middle of this massive upheaval, the
restructuring with Iger at the helm. And we've spoken a little bit about
expand. Do you think they need to be bolder?
What would you do? Well, they will be bolder because I
think institutional investors want to see a greater release of value.
This is not a growth company anymore. They capitulated and say, well, finally,
bring a modest dividend increase or a dividend, really, since the beginning of
the pandemic, the end of this year, there's no buybacks.
So so why would you want to be in Disney, as I do?
Other than it has great assets and we need catalysts to recognize those.
And so I think in the world of the movies and entertainment industry, it's
not just copying or doing what Netflix does, but it's really you have different
businesses that have different valuations and the hotel parks and
cruise ships is very different than video streaming.
So the path forward then what? What does Bob Iger need to do to remain
the sort of, you know, the wizard, Bob Iger?
Yeah. Well, first of all, it's a new playbook.
It's very different than what he succeeded doing in his previous time as
CEO. And he needs time, which is why there
was the press release a month ago that he's going to stay on for two years.
It's not just for succession, but it takes time to figure out how you're
going to really create different organizational structures, what kind of
strategic partners, whether Disney wants to keep mostly a control or a majority
interests in some of the businesses that are declining, such as ABC or other
broadcast TV stations. So in terms of a long term investment in
Disney for four years, you know, in this country, people have given a grandchild
or something a share of Disney stock, right?
It's just been that kind of company. Is it going to continue to be that kind
of company if it is? Bob Iger, for some reason, doesn't quite
meet up to the kind of steps he needs to take that you just mentioned.
You know, is is it going to. Is it going to still be that place like
almost like a blue chip? Just put your money there Will do fine.
I know. I think it's because there's catalysts
to realize the underlying asset value of this broad company.
And I really think he should be speaking is not going to speak to Nelson Peltz,
but he ought to be speaking to Larry Culp at General Electric and someone I
know at Breen DuPont through his careers at Motorola, Tyco and DuPont.
They know how to get value for investors.
And in many instances, it means separating and spinning off businesses
that are not aligned with others.