Disney Stock Rises as Josh D’Amaro’s First Earnings Report Beats Wall Street
Walt Disney shares climbed early Thursday, gaining about 1.7% to $109.92 right after the New York market opened. The move followed a quarterly beat, with newly installed CEO Josh D’Amaro, in his first earnings call, laying out a growth strategy tightly focused on streaming, ESPN, and the core theme parks business. The clock is ticking for D’Amaro, who took over from Bob Iger in mid-March. He’s under pressure to convince investors that Disney’s streaming operation can start delivering real, lasting profits, even as the company’s legacy TV division contracts and its theme parks deal with weaker international visitor numbers and new rivals in Orlando.