NEWS: Disney Stock Prices Rise After Iger Announced as CEO

In a shocking Sunday evening twist, Disney announced that CEO Bob Chapek would step down — and be replaced by his predecessor, Bob Iger.

This comes after Chapek faced criticism over the company’s performance as of late. During the most recent earnings call, The Walt Disney Company (NYSE: DIS) stock prices plummeted to under $100 for the second time in 2022. Chapek later shared in an internal memo that Disney would look to cut costs with hiring freezes and even layoffs. But now that Iger is back, Disney stock prices are on the rise again.

On November 20, 2022, The Walt Disney Company announced that Bob Chapek would step down as Chief Executive Officer and Bob Iger would serve as his replacement effective immediately. Iger previously stepped down as the company’s CEO in 2020, stating that he had no intentions to return.

But it looks like that has changed, as Chapek is out and Iger is in — a surprising turn of events that few (if anyone) on the outside saw coming. Chapek has faced scrutiny and blame for price increases in the Disney parks, changes to Annual Pass programs, the replacement of FastPass+ with Genie+, and how he handled the controversy surrounding Florida’s Parental Rights in Education law (called the “Don’t Say Gay” law by critics). It’s important to note, though, that many of these changes were already in the works by the time Chapek took over.

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Disney fans weren’t the only ones criticizing Chapek, as the company’s stock had faced a decline throughout 2022 — at the beginning of the year, values were around $150 per share. By April, the numbers dropped to around $117, and then in June, those shares were trading at about $93.12 — the lowest they had been so far this year.

During Disney’s most recent earnings call, the company reported more than $1.5 billion in quarterly losses causing stock prices to fall 12% the following day according to the New York Times. As of Friday, November 19th, the company’s shares had fallen about 40% in 2022 (CNBC).

Now that Iger’s return has been announced, The Walt Disney Company (NYSE: DIS) stock rose about 8% on Monday morning at market open (CNBC). Iger has signed on for a two-year stint as the CEO, with a mandate from the Board to set the strategic direction for renewed growth and work with the Board to name a successor.