BIG NEWS today as Disney’s CEO, Bob Chapek, announced during a Disney Investor call that Walt Disney World will increase park capacity to 35%. Previously capping admission to 25% capacity, Chapek indicated that the theme parks are ready to bump up to 35% and still follow 6-feet social distancing guidelines set forth by the CDC. He praised the Orlando park for being able to re open safely and successfully as a model for the smaller parks around the world. On the other hand, Chapek blasted California Governor Gavin Newsom for continuing to keep Disneyland closed, saying
“We are extremely disappointed that the State of California continues to keep Disney closed despite our proven track record.”
The company confirmed that they anticipate Disneyland will remain closed at least through the fiscal quarter — which ends Dec. 31. Also discussed was that the parks division took a $2.4 billion hit in revenue. This is not surprising following the recent announcement of 28,000 layoffs at its U.S. parks.
Promising News
Chapek and Chief Financial officer Christine McCarthy both noted that a parks recovery will require controlling COVID and it’s not clear when that will happen. However, reports of a new vaccine by Pfizer are promising. The Pfizer company said Monday that trials showed its vaccine to be 90% effective. It could be approved by the FDA for emergency use before year end. Other big drug companies are also close. That news propelled Disney to its biggest one-day gain, of nearly 13%, on the day of the announcement. It will be interesting to see what this along with today’s news about Disney’s Disney increase in park capacity will do to Disney stock in the coming days, weeks and months.