Wall Street analyst Rich Greenfield has a tall order for Josh D’Amaro. In a note yesterday, he urged Disney’s new CEO to exit linear television, take more creative risks and pursue a transformative acquisition, particularly in the user-generated content space.
Michael Morris of Guggenheim said Disney under D’Amaro needs to deliver “a more regular cadence of excellence” in branded and new content releases and provide increased transparency and guidance across all its businesses – streaming, film, television and experiences. He wants fewer “splashy announcements” like deals with Epic Games and OpenAI but evidence of “more measurable Incremental wins from new investments.”
Because, they noted, Disney stock has dramatically underperformed the market despite having one of the most valuable brand portfolios in the world.
“Since outgoing CEO Bob Iger returned in late 2022 and current CFO Hugh Johnston became CFO in December 2023, Disney shares have underperformed the S&P 500 by 60% and 38%, respectively,” noted Morris. “While the drivers of relative share weakness are broadly debated, these are opportunities to rebuild investor confidence.”
Disney shares dipped nearly 1% on Wednesday, closing at $99.42, roughly at the midpoint of their range over the past year. They are down almost 13% thus far in 2026. It was a dour day for markets overall as oil prices surged in response to new flashpoints in President Trump’s war with Iran, and extreme caution from the Federal Reserve about lowering interest rates.
Greenfield called his suggestions “three bold moves that D’Amaro must make to reinvigorate Disney’s lackluster stock price performance over the past decade.”
By sector, Morris believes Disney’s headline success masks some underlying weaknesses. “We see a clear disconnect between management’s recent bullish commentary on box office performance ($6.5bn in 2025 box office; No. 1 globally for 9 of the past 10 years) and actual business performance,” he wrote. D’Amaro touted the box office numbers at today’s annual meeting of shareholders as he delivered his first public remarks as chief executive, noting Toy Story 5 coming in June and dating Lily & Stitch 2 and Incredibles 3.
Morris may have a “buy” rating on the stock, but that doesn’t mean he hasn’t grown frustrated. “Specifically, we would argue that these metrics are largely backward looking and, in the case of 2025, skewed by an expensive franchise (Avatar) that has little impact on the Disney business broadly and a significant mix of under-performing tentpole films,” he wrote. “Further, recent performance and the 2026 outlook are largely reliant on sequels and re-makes and under-indexed to the development of new stories and characters,” he said. Hoppers, a current release, was Pixar’s best original animated debut since 2017.
Morris would also like to see more “organic growth engagement” led by streaming. Wall Street needs more granular disclosure around the DTC profit trajectory, linear network decline rates, and studio economics, he believes.
The growth profile of the key experiences business has also been hard to understand, Morris wrote, which means the market may be missing “the big picture potential of high-return parks investments.” Disney is in the midst of a $60 billion global investment program in the division but he’s like more specific detail around what’s opening, when, and where.
D’Amaro’s “intimate familiarity with the Experiences segment positions him well to provide this clarity and doing so would represent a meaningful step toward strengthening investor confidence in the growth algorithm for Disney’s most capital-intensive business.”
Greenfield thinks the company should split, separating entertainment and streaming from linear television as Warner Bros. Discovery planned to do before agreeing to sell itself to Paramount. The move “would unlock significant shareholder value and allow each company to focus on vastly different long-term value creation paths,” he said.
Bob Iger, D’Amaro’s predecessor, told CNBC in 2023 that linear TV “may not be core” to the company’s operations, creating a brief frenzy of M&A speculation. He later called the comment a trial balloon and the company’s strategy has since re-embraced linear as a component.
In terms of creative risk, he believes “Disney has become far too comfortable as a ‘brand manager’ of its core franchises, many of which feel tired. Fresh IP and new franchises are more important for Disney than for any other company in the media space, as they drive not just its studio profitability, but the larger flywheel of streaming, theme parks, and consumer products. We would love to see D’Amaro and President and Chief Creative Officer Dana Walden empower Disney’s creative teams to meaningfully scale up Disney’s investment in original content creation around the world, in hopes of finding more hit franchises, particularly in the kids and family categories.”
In his comments at the annual meeting, D’Amaro stayed general. He said the company is “poised to accelerate into our next era of innovation and growth. And this next chapter will be driven by staying focused on world-class creativity, enhanced by technology, bringing unforgettable stories to audiences wherever they are.” He touted key franchises, stressed Disney+ as central to growth, and said that in terms of M&A company looks at everything but is happy with what it has.
It’s just hjs first day. Succession was smooth. Wall Street likes him. Morris called him “dynamic.” But the stock speaks and investors are watching.
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