Disney CEO: Josh D’Amaro to Replace Bob Iger – Analyst Reactions & Future Outlook

Disney Names Parks Chief Josh D’Amaro as New CEO

Tuesday, February 3, 2026 – The Walt Disney Company formally announced Josh D’Amaro as its new Chief Executive Officer, succeeding Bob Iger. The move, revealed during an earnings disclosure, appears designed to provide Iger space to address financial details regarding the studio division and experiences unit.

The appointment concludes a years-long internal competition for the role, with other contenders including entertainment co-chairs Dana Walden and Alan Bergman, and ESPN leader Jimmy Pitaro.

During his final earnings call as CEO, Iger highlighted key financial achievements, including $6.5 billion in global box office revenue in calendar year 2025 and quarterly revenue exceeding $10 billion for the experiences/parks division. He also detailed a three-year deal with OpenAI for Disney+, stating it would “jump start our ability to have short-form video on Disney+.” Iger emphasized that much of his recent work has been focused on stabilizing the company.

“The good news is that the company is in much better shape today than it was three years ago because we have done a lot of fixing,” Iger said on the February 2 earnings call. A significant portion of this “fixing” involved improvements to the streaming side, according to Chief Financial Officer Hugh Johnston.

Johnston noted that streaming losses had reached $1 billion per quarter at one point, but have been substantially reduced. “Bob laid out a goal for us to return or to get streaming to profitability, and then to get it to double-digit margins,” he said. “Recall last year, we got it to a 5 percent margin, and we stated we have a goal this year and guidance this year to achieve a 10 percent margin.”

Iger now views both the studio unit and the parks and experiences division as potential leaders in driving profitability for Disney. “We have a healthy competition now at our company in terms of which of those two businesses is going to essentially prevail as the No. 1 driver of profitability for the company,” he added.

Stock Performance and Analyst Perspectives

As of midday Eastern time on Tuesday, Disney stock was trading at $102.54 a share. Wall Street analysts have price targets ranging from $123 to $140 for the company.

TD Cowen analyst Doug Creutz, with a $123 price target, highlighted D’Amaro’s immediate priorities as managing the Parks business through economic challenges, maintaining creative momentum in the Studios, and navigating the transition from linear to digital distribution, particularly concerning ESPN. Creutz noted D’Amaro’s interest in expanding Disney’s footprint in video games, referencing the $1.5 billion investment in Epic Games and the Fortnite project.

Bank of America analyst Jessica Reif Ehrlich lowered her price target to $125, from $140, citing headwinds from international visitation to domestic parks and pre-launch costs for the Disney Adventure cruise ship and World of Frozen at Disneyland Paris. However, Ehrlich noted bookings are up 5% for the year, suggesting improvement.

MoffettNathanson analyst Robert Fishman, maintaining a $140 price target, pointed to Disney’s undervalued content assets, particularly in light of the Warner Bros. Acquisition and ESPN’s $30 billion valuation implied by a recent NFL equity deal. He also raised the question of whether Disney should consider spinning off ESPN.

Guggenheim analyst Michael Morris, with a $140 price target, expressed optimism about D’Amaro’s potential to intensify strategic focus on Disney’s brands and assets, leading to a more robust content slate.

Wolfe Research analyst Peter Supino, with a $126 price target (down from $134), acknowledged the volatility in the Experiences segment, noting initial concerns about the impact of Epic Universe on Walt Disney World, followed by a decline in domestic parks sales. However, Supino maintained that Disney remains an objectively good business with valuable intellectual property.

Morgan Stanley analysts Thomas Yeh and Cameron Mansson-Perrone, with a $135 price target, noted a roughly $400 million operating income shortfall compared to consensus expectations, attributing it to timing of sports rights fees and park pre-opening expenses. They remain optimistic about Disney’s streaming and Experiences businesses as growth engines.