Disney Stock Continues Drop, Completely Eliminates 5-Year Gains

2022 has not been kind to The Walt Disney Company’s stock price.

For a variety of reasons still debated among the spectrum of onlookers, from stockbrokers to die-hard fans, DIS has been in a downward slide for the entirety of the year and has officially dipped so low that all of its gains over the past five years have been lost.

The company saw a significant drop in price at the beginning of 2020 but was mostly credited to the Parks and Movie Theaters closing due to the Pandemic and the sudden announcement of then-CEO Bob Iger stepping down and being replaced by Bob Chapek. The company rebounded as it launched Disney Plus and the number of streaming subscribers became recognized as a key indicator of company growth. But after briefly breaking $200/share and hitting an all-time high in 2021, the stock has been in decline ever since.

2022 has also seen The Walt Disney Company take a more obvious “woke” direction, most notably with its stance against Florida’s Parental Rights in Education Legislation and the leaked videos which show their push to inject LGBTQ+ content into new children’s programming. That news not only sparked outrage among fans–many of whom publically declared the cancelation of their Disney Vacation and/or Disney+ subscription–but also politicians.

Now, The Walt Disney Company is faced with two different pieces of legislation working to end special privileges they have enjoyed for years. The first was signed by Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, which initiated the end of Disney World’s Reedy Creek Improvement District. The second is being introduced on a federal level which will end the protection of Disney’s extended copyright on Mickey Mouse. 

It should also be noted that the entire DOW JONES stock index–in which Disney is included–is significantly down as a whole with “A cocktail of geopolitical risks and economic headwinds is posing the biggest threat to global growth in years and rattling markets,” according to The Wall Street Journal.

The Disney Parks at Hong Kong Disneyland Resort and the Shanghai Disney Resort were also forced to enter another multi-month shut down due to government reactions to a resurgence of COVID-19 in the area.

Only time will tell how much of this outrage will actually affect The Walt Disney Company financially.

We at Disney Fanatic will continue to update our readers on Disney news as more developments come to light.