Disney shares rise after CEO Iger's contract extended to 2026

Investing.com -- Shares in Disney (NYSE: DIS) rose in early trading on Thursday after the entertainment giant extended the contract of chief executive Bob Iger for a further two years.

Iger, who returned for a second stint as CEO following the rocky tenure of former head Bob Chapek, was originally supposed to stay on until 2024. But the company said the length of Iger's contract has now been pushed out to December 2026, arguing that the move will give it "continuity of leadership during [its] ongoing transformation."

The 72-year-old Iger faces a host of challenges to the business, including a high-profile spat with U.S. presidential hopeful Ron DeSantis over its backing of LGBTQ+ causes, heavy competition to its Disney+ streaming service, and the weak box office performance of the latest film from its lucrative Pixar division. Meanwhile, Disney has said it will cut 7,000 jobs to save $5.5 billion in costs.

Despite the extension of Iger's contract, analysts at TD Cowen flagged that it remains uncertain what Disney plans to do after his term ends.

"[It] likely takes a bit of an overhang off the stock, given that Iger is now over halfway through the [first] year of his original [two-year] tenure, but it also reinforces the notion that [Disney] continues to have serious succession planning issues," the analysts said.

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