Disney CEO Bob Iger and activist investor Nelson Peltz have been embroiled in a heated proxy battle for control of two seats on the media giant’s board. The corporate fight has attracted bold-faced names including Laurene Powell Jobs, George Lucas, Jamie Dimon, and even Walt Disney’s heirs. The final showdown is Wednesday.
And Wall Street seems to be tuning out the whole thing.
Disney stock has risen more than 30% to about $122 per share since Peltz announced his plans to seek seats on Disney’s board in November. It’s up 35% so far this year.
“The incessant Disney-related news flow ahead of the proxy vote has dominated investor considerations since last quarter’s earnings, and we expect this to continue helping the stock near term,” Barclays analysts wrote on Monday as they upgraded Disney stock from equal weight to overweight.
Barclays also raised its price target for Disney stock from $95 per share to $135 per share. The analysts said that after the proxy battle is over, Disney’s board will likely focus on transitioning Iger out (assuming that the CEO does retire in 2026).
A potential long-term plan and guidance introduced ahead of Iger’s departure could help boost the stock, the analysts added. Barclays also took a bullish stance on streaming profitability, with the analysts saying they expect Disney to break even “potentially a quarter or two earlier than” the company’s expectations of the final quarter of 2024.
Raymond James reiterated its outperform rating on Disney stock in a note to investors Monday, and raised its price target from $122 per share to $128.
More Disney news
The biggest players in Disney’s big board fight — and which side they’re on
Disney bashes Nelson Peltz as an ‘81-year-old hedge fund manager with no creative experience’
Nelson Peltz says the Disney board fight isn’t about Bob Iger at all