[SiFiPi]

Is it possible that he believes that the markets will take a hit in the near future with the virus scares these last two days?

If I were CEO of a behemoth giant like Disney and held the credit for its rising in several industries, I'd bounce ship before it all went down to avoid any blame?

Maybe I'm naive, but this thought crossed my mind.

[jcranmer]

COVID-2019 is going to hit everybody more or less to the same degree. The only people who are going to be significantly damaged by it are those who bet everything on doing good in 2020 (which is still more likely to be seen as bad luck than poor skill), or those who manage to absolutely screw the handling up.

[LatteLazy]

Disney will likely gain from it: what better time to be selling digital subscription services than when everyone is locked up in their houses and schools are closing?

[jcranmer]

Given that a lot of people who would be interested in Disney's subscription service probably already have it, I don't think there's likely to be a major increase in subscriptions due to coronavirus-induced shutdowns.

People cancelling their trips to Disney parks and cruises will likely hurt them a lot. If people start cancelling spring break en masse, or this lasts long enough to affect the summer season, the lost ticket sales will be painful.

[nojvek]

Disney parks in China where they’ve invested billions are prolly already feeling the heat.

[mantap]

On the other hand, if you can't go to work, you can't earn money. If you cant earn money you probably will be spending the money you have on living essentials rather than Disney.

[poopmanpoopman]

China has 3000+ infected healthcare workers. Can all but guarantee their healthcare system will collapse in the coming weeks. The US's healthcare system won't collapse. Can guarantee that Iran is going to have a much higher death rate than the US. It's going to be insanely different for everyone, depending on how reliant they are on different regions. The task is essentially to nurse pnemonia patients through the infection, providing constant oxygen and other assistance.. Each country will have different capacities to do that. Tons of other factors and the same principle applies.

[drchiu]

Bought shares today due to the general market drop. Bought more after hours after this announcement. My gut tells me it’s due to some personal reason. Perhaps health. Time will tell. Company is good and has a lot of great brands and assets.

[SiFiPi]

I see, but is it possible that he suspects a large sell off of excess fat or even a large downturn after the presidential elections, and this recent downturn just reminded him of this idea?

[calny]

Interesting possibility but I don’t think so. Obviously I can’t say what he’s thinking, but I doubt he’d believe it would help his legacy to abandon his role in the middle of market difficulties after the worst 3-day stretch in recent memory.