By
Tolu Ajiboye
February 9th, 2024
Walt Disney (DIS) stock is reacting to the company’s plans to open its Shanghai park. Now the stock is trading around 2% up from teh previous close.
As several of the world’s countries and cities begin their journeys to restoration, it seems that people cannot wait to return to normalcy. Disneyland in Shanghai will reopen on May 11, after being locked down for months. Within minutes, tickets sold out completely. The Walt Disney Company (NYSE: DIS) stock has also risen slightly.
Disney Reopens in Shanghai
The ongoing coronavirus pandemic began in Wuhan, China, last year. Since then, it has spread to pretty much every country in the world, with devastating consequences. Globally, the virus has infected over 3.9 million people, with over 272,000 deaths. China first went into total lockdown, before other countries followed suit.
Shanghai Disney shut down on January 25 and has been closed since then. It is the first Disney park to reopen anywhere in the world.
In a recent statement, Disney CEO Bob Chapek says the Shanghai park is excited to welcome people back. Chapek also promised that the park would be safe for all visitors.
“As the park reopens with significantly enhanced health and safety measures, our guests will find Shanghai Disneyland as magical and memorable as ever.”
Shanghai Disney has already introduced a few measures to ensure safety. Firstly, the park will operate at 30% capacity, in line with the government’s mandate. Usually, Shanghai Disney sees about 80,000 per day. For now, the park will allow a maximum of 24,000 people. Chapek, however, says that number will increase slowly, over the next couple of weeks.
Visitors at the park will have to wear a mask at all times, except when eating. Visitors will also purchase tickets before going to the park, and will select a specific visit date. People with an Annual Pass will have to specify their visit dates.
Disney has also put several taped markings all around the ground of the park to ensure social distancing. The park’s staff will also wear masks at all times and will engage in contact-less interactions.
Walt Disney (DIS) Stock
Currently trading at $107.98, Walt Disney (DIS) stock is up 2.28% from its previous close at $105.57. Just like many other companies, Walt Disney has not been very profitable this year. With no gains in 2020, it has lost more than 25%, losing over 23% in the last three months.
The coronavirus pandemic hit Walt Disney stock. Earlier in April, analysts at Guggenheim Partners reduced their estimate for fiscal 2020 from $5.20 to $2.94. They also reduced fiscal 2021 from $5.90 to $4.27 and crashed its stock rating to Neutral from Buy. Guggenheim also put the stock’s price target at $100, dropping it from $160.
Disney announced at the time that it would halt payment for 100,000 of its workforce, representing about half of its global workforce. The decision was projected to help Disney save $500 million.
As some normalcy returns to the world and Disney starts to reopen, there’s a good enough chance for Walt Disney stock to regain its losses.