Duelling at Disney
Showdown in the Magic Kingdom
Good morning, magic makers. This is your Stock Market Rundown for April 4th, 2024. Thanks for joining me today. Let’s dig in:
TODAY’S TOP STORY: SHAREHOLDERS WISH UPON A STAR
Disney’s most dramatic battles usually take place on a big screen. But recently, there’s been a real-life fight for the future of the Magic Kingdom.
In one corner, 73-year-old Disney CEO Bob Iger, heading up Disney’s board of directors. In the other, 81-year old activist investor Nelson Peltz.
As a big holder of Disney stock, Peltz was peeved that its share price is sitting at an eight-year low. He launched a board challenge, making a play to install himself and an ally on Disney’s board of directors.
Peltz got the party started by dropping a 133-page slide deck explaining in excruciating detail how Disney was screwing up. He disparaged Disney as “a company in crisis” and said its problems were “self-inflicted”.
Obviously, Disney’s CEO and current board were in no way cool with this. They replied with an attack video charging that giving Peltz power would “jeopardize the incredible progress the company has made”. And they rallied powerful allies, like George Lucas, who publicly backed the Disney board.
The Force must have been with Disney, because yesterday at the company’s annual meeting, shareholders voted—and Disney’s CEO won.
Peltz’s effort to stir up a rebellion at Disney was defeated, and his mission ended with the boardroom equivalent of a crash into an asteroid. And with a climactic moment like this, there isn’t likely to be a sequel.
SO WHAT ELSE IS GOING ON?
Novo Nordisk, flush with cash from its blockbuster weight loss drugs, is acquiring a pharmaceutical company with a promising clinical trial for heart failure. Seems they're on a mission to cure all the side effects of my weekend Doritos binges.
A top ratings agency is downgrading their outlook for US regional banks due to the faltering commercial real estate sector. At this point, a golf course in a swamp sounds like a better investment than most commercial property.
Carnival raised its annual profit forecast as more travelers booked cruise vacations. Apparently the only thing people missed more than socializing during the pandemic was eating buffet food in international waters.
Parcel delivery giant UPS is forecasting healthy revenue growth for 2026. Maybe as a perk for customers, they can start having drones deliver directly to our fridges… I require automated mayonnaise replenishment.
Time to call it a day, pals. Let’s circle back for more tomorrow morning. Yours in capitalism, The Axe
Thank you so much for reading. If you enjoyed today’s Stock Market Rundown, the #1 thing you can do to help me out is forward it to a friend.