Researches Believe Disney’s U.S Parks Will Eventually Close Due to Coronavirus
At the annual shareholder meeting on Wednesday, Bob Iger addressed the concerns for the Coronavirus affecting the theme parks. Many of the investors are worried about what the virus will do to theme park numbers and he reassured them that essentially, everything would be ok.
“We’re all sobered by the concern that we feel for everyone affected by this global crisis,” Iger, now the new Executive Chairman, said as the meeting began at 10 a.m. “But it’s also important to note that throughout our company’s nearly century-long history, Disney has been through a lot, including wars, economic downturns and natural disasters. And what we’ve demonstrated repeatedly over the years, is that we are incredibly resilient. Our future has always been bright, and it remains so for good reason.”
The Disney parks in Hong Kong, Japan, and China have already closed down due to the outbreak and are still fully or partially closed.The cruise ship industry has already been feeling the effects as well since the CDC has urged people not to be on cruise ships during the outbreak.
According to the Orlando Sentinel, “Wall Street stock prices have tumbled for Orlando-based SeaWorld Entertainment, which operates 12 theme parks across the country. The stock, previously trading above $35 per share for several days in February, fell to about $15 Wednesday before the market had closed. Disney was trading at about $104 per share, down 7% Wednesday afternoon.”
Investment management and research firm AllianceBernstein published an analyst note on Monday that predicted Disney’s U.S. parks could also close.
“Rightly or wrongly, most investors we speak with believe Disney’s US parks will close,” the note said. “For them ‘whether the parks will close’ is no longer the operative question.”
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Source: Orlando Sentinel