Disney earnings: What to expect from the annual shareholder meeting

Yahoo Finance’s Allie Canal joins the Live show to discuss the expectations for Disney earnings ahead of the mass media company’s annual shareholder meeting.

Video transcript

- Disney's in the spotlight this week as investors gear up for the company's first report since Bob Iger made his return as CEO. So what should they be focused on? Yahoo Finance's Alexandra Canal joins us now with more. Hey, Allie.

ALLIE CANAL: Hi, Rachel. We just got the update, too, that Disney's annual shareholder meeting is going to be taking place Monday, April 3 at 10:00 AM Pacific Time. And this is going to be a big one because there's been a lot of activity surrounding Disney's board since Nelson Peltz launched his activist fight just a few weeks ago.

And I think a lot of people are going to be closely paying attention since Nelson Peltz and his Trian fund have been urging Disney shareholders to vote against one director that Disney has heavily endorsed, Michael Froman, and elect Peltz instead.

Peltz, of course, has heavily criticized Disney's heavy content spend as well as their current succession plans among other things such as operational challenges at the company.

Trian has said that Peltz would provide, quote, "A new perspective to improve performance of Disney's set of assets," especially at a time when the media industry has rapidly changed and Disney stock has struggled.

2022 was the worst year for the stock since 1974. So this is a crucial time for the company. And we've heard varying opinions on what should happen next. But certainly, a lot needs to be addressed during this earnings call tomorrow.

I don't think Iger will directly address the Peltz drama unless he's specifically asked about it. But we do need to hear other things.

Number one, what is Disney's streaming strategy, along with possible layoffs, restructuring efforts that Disney has been teasing for quite some time. But ultimately, no matter what is discussed on the call, Yahoo Finance will be breaking it all down with our after the call special, shortly following tomorrow's earnings.

So be sure to tune in to that. It's going to be a good one. Because there's certainly so, so, so much to discuss.

- I love our after the calls. I mean, you really do get like the immediate breakdown of everything that went on. I mean, and there's a lot in the Disney pie, beyond-- I know we talk a lot about the streaming. But you also have the parks, and how that's been trending versus, say, at Universal Studios and everything else.

What do you think are the real parts of the business that will really be in focus, and of course with Bob Iger's return, maybe perhaps any sort of inkling as to where the company goes from here.

ALLIE CANAL: I mean, the tone that Bob Iger strikes on this call is going to be paramount for that stock reaction post earnings. But you mentioned the parks. And we saw in the last quarter that the parks did lag when it comes to revenue.

Now, Disney has said the holiday period was super, super strong. So I do expect those parks to rebound. But we'll have to see. It's usually a good indicator of the state of the consumer. But parks, streaming, strategy, Hulu, ESPN, this activist fight, I mean, there's a ton to get into.

- It's a lot. It could be a special on Disney all on its own. A big thank you there to Allie Canal for getting us up to speed. And we look forward to that after the bell as well tomorrow.