Walt Disney Company (The) (DIS) Stock Price & How to Invest
Short answer
You can invest in The Walt Disney Company (DIS) by buying shares or fractional shares at any major broker, through an ETF that holds it, or as one holding in a thematic basket. The real thesis is a two-engine story: Experiences (theme parks, cruises, consumer products) throws off the bulk of operating profit and funds everything else, while the streaming business (Disney+ and Hulu) has flipped from a heavy cash drain to a profitable, growing segment. The biggest risk is the secular decline of the legacy linear-TV business (cable networks and the channels ESPN still depends on), alongside the content and sports-rights spending it takes to keep the streaming flywheel turning.
DIS stock price
As of 2026-06-26, Walt Disney Company (The) (DIS) last closed at $98.79, down 19.2% over the past year. Over the past 52 weeks it has traded between $92.42 and $124.01.
Prices are daily closing prices from Yahoo Finance and may be delayed. For the live quote, check your broker or Walt Disney Company (The)'s investor relations page. Walnut is informational, not investment advice.
What does Walt Disney Company (The) (DIS) do?
Disney runs three reporting segments. Entertainment covers the Disney+ and Hulu streaming services, film studios (Walt Disney, Pixar, Marvel, Lucasfilm, 20th Century), and the legacy linear TV networks; it makes money from subscription fees, advertising, box office, and licensing, and in fiscal-Q2 2026 generated revenue of ~$11.7 billion and operating income of ~$1.34 billion. Sports is primarily ESPN, monetized through affiliate fees, advertising, and now a direct-to-consumer subscription; it earned ~$652 million of operating income on ~$4.6 billion of revenue that quarter, with profit pressured by rights costs. Experiences (domestic and international theme parks, resorts, cruise ships, and consumer products) is the profit center, posting record fiscal-Q2 operating income of ~$2.6 billion on ~$9.5 billion of revenue, earning money from ticket sales, hotels, food, merchandise, cruises, and brand licensing.
Founded in 1923 as a cartoon studio, Disney grew through animation, theme parks (Disneyland opened 1955), and a long run of acquisitions including Pixar, Marvel, Lucasfilm, and most of 21st Century Fox. Bob Iger, who led the company from 2005 to 2020 and returned as CEO in late 2022, has refocused the business on streaming profitability, theatrical franchises, and the parks while shrinking the cash burn that defined the early streaming push. For fiscal 2025 (ended September 27, 2025) Disney reported revenue of ~$94.4 billion and total segment operating income of ~$17.6 billion. Succession remains an open question, with the board working to name Iger's successor.
What's driving Walt Disney Company (The) (DIS)?
Experiences as the cash engine
Theme parks, cruises, and consumer products remain Disney's largest profit source, with fiscal-Q2 2026 operating income of ~$2.6 billion, a quarterly record. New cruise ships and ongoing park investment give the segment a multi-year growth runway. Because pricing power here is tied to a uniquely deep library of characters and franchises, this engine is hard for competitors to replicate.
Streaming profit inflection
After years of losses, the Disney+ and Hulu streaming business has turned profitable, with combined operating income up ~88% year over year to ~$582 million in fiscal-Q2 2026 and an operating margin above 10% for the first time. Management has guided toward roughly $2.1 billion of streaming operating income in fiscal 2026. Continued margin expansion would shift the company's profit mix toward higher-multiple recurring revenue.
ESPN direct-to-consumer
ESPN launched its flagship direct-to-consumer streaming service in August 2025 at ~$29.99 per month for the unlimited tier, giving cord-cutters a path to ESPN without a cable bundle. This is Disney's attempt to migrate the most valuable piece of linear TV onto a streaming footing before cable shrinks further. Success would extend the life of the Sports segment's economics.
IP and franchises
Disney owns one of the deepest content libraries in media, spanning Marvel, Star Wars, Pixar, and the core animation catalog. That intellectual property feeds films, streaming, parks, cruises, and merchandise in a reinforcing loop where a hit movie drives park demand and consumer-products sales. The breadth of monetization channels is a structural advantage few rivals can match.
What are the risks to Walt Disney Company (The) (DIS)?
The legacy linear-TV business (cable networks and traditional distribution) is in secular decline as audiences cut the cord, and the high-margin affiliate fees that decline carries are difficult to fully replace with streaming subscriptions. Sustaining the content slate and sports rights requires heavy, ongoing spending that can cap profit growth even when revenue rises. The Experiences segment, while highly profitable, is cyclical and sensitive to consumer discretionary spending, travel demand, and the broader economy. Leadership succession after Bob Iger is unresolved, and a transition at the top adds execution and strategic uncertainty.
How is Walt Disney Company (The) (DIS) valued? (approximate, 2026-06-27)
A simple financial snapshot. These are approximations and refresh quarterly; for current figures see Walt Disney Company (The)'s investor relations page or your broker.
- Revenue (FY2025, ended Sept 2025): ~$94.4 billion
- Total segment operating income (FY2025): ~$17.6 billion
- Experiences operating income (fiscal-Q2 2026): ~$2.6 billion (record)
- Streaming (Disney+/Hulu) operating income (fiscal-Q2 2026): ~$582 million, up ~88% YoY
- Annual dividend (2026): ~$1.50 per share (two ~$0.75 installments)
- Market cap / P/E: ~$171 billion / ~15-16x
Disney trades at a price-to-earnings multiple in the mid-teens, well below its own historical average, reflecting both the parks-driven earnings base and lingering skepticism about media. The 2026 dividend of ~$1.50 per share marks roughly a 50% increase over the ~$1.00 paid in 2025, continuing the recovery from the dividend's pandemic-era suspension. Figures are tied to the asOf date and reflect fiscal 2025 full-year and fiscal-Q2 2026 (ended March 28, 2026) reporting.
Who competes with Walt Disney Company (The) (DIS)?
Streaming
Netflix is the direct streaming benchmark and operates at far higher margins (a roughly 30% operating margin in 2025 versus Disney's newly double-digit streaming margin). Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, Warner Bros. Discovery's Max, and Comcast's Peacock also compete for subscribers, viewing time, and content spend.
Diversified media and studios
Comcast (NBCUniversal), Warner Bros. Discovery, Paramount, and Sony compete across film, television, and franchise IP. These rivals chase the same theatrical audiences, licensing deals, and creative talent that drive Disney's Entertainment segment.
Theme parks and experiences
Comcast's Universal Destinations (including the Epic Universe park) is the closest theme-park competitor, alongside regional operators and global resort destinations. They compete for the same discretionary travel and leisure spending that powers Disney's most profitable segment.
How to invest in Walt Disney Company (The) (DIS)
There are three common ways to get DIS exposure. Buy shares (or fractional shares) directly at any major broker. Hold an ETF that includes it, which spreads the position across many companies. Or build it into a focused thematic basket, so DIS sits alongside other stocks that express the same thesis.
Walnut takes the basket route. Describe a thesis where DIS fits (for example “AI infrastructure” or “dividend-growth large-caps”) and the AI proposes 5 to 6 constituents with target weights. You review the plan and fund it through your own broker when you're ready.
The bottom line on Walt Disney Company (The) (DIS)
Disney today is best understood as a parks-and-experiences cash engine with a newly profitable streaming layer bolted on. Experiences posted record fiscal-Q2 2026 operating income of ~$2.6 billion, and combined Disney+ and Hulu streaming income jumped ~88% year over year to ~$582 million in the same quarter, the first time that business cleared a double-digit operating margin. If you believe the parks stay full and streaming margins keep climbing toward management's ~10% full-year target, the question becomes sizing and overlap (how much media and consumer-discretionary exposure you already hold) rather than timing. The risk is that linear-TV erosion and sports-rights costs offset the streaming gains, leaving total profit growth slower than the headlines suggest.
More on Walt Disney Company (The) (DIS)
Whether DIS is worth buying today depends more on your time horizon and what you already hold than on any single call. We walk through valuation, what would have to go right, and the risks in is DIS a buy?, and where the stock could go from here in the DIS stock forecast.
For income investors, whether DIS pays a dividend and how the payout looks is covered in does DIS pay a dividend?
Build a basket around DIS with Walnut
Use Walt Disney Company (The) as one constituent in a thematic basket Walnut's AI helps you assemble. Describe a thesis you believe in, the AI proposes the holdings and weights, and you approve before any broker order.
FAQ
Is DIS a good stock to buy right now?
+
That depends on your goals, time horizon, and risk tolerance, and this is not advice. The bull case is record parks profit plus a streaming business that just turned profitable at a mid-teens valuation. The bear case is shrinking cable economics, heavy content and sports spending, and an unresolved CEO succession. Weigh both against what you already own.
What does Disney do?
+
Disney operates three segments: Entertainment (Disney+ and Hulu streaming, film studios like Marvel and Pixar, and legacy TV networks), Sports (mainly ESPN), and Experiences (theme parks, resorts, cruise ships, and consumer products). It makes money from subscriptions, advertising, box office, licensing, and the parks-and-merchandise ecosystem built on its character library.
Does DIS pay a dividend?
+
Yes. After suspending its dividend during the pandemic, Disney reinstated it in late 2023 and has raised it steadily. For 2026 the company set an annual dividend of ~$1.50 per share, paid in two semi-annual installments of about $0.75 each, up roughly 50% from the ~$1.00 paid in 2025.
Is Disney+ profitable?
+
Yes, the streaming business has turned profitable. In fiscal-Q2 2026, combined Disney+ and Hulu operating income rose ~88% year over year to ~$582 million, the first quarter that segment cleared a double-digit operating margin. Management has guided toward roughly $2.1 billion of streaming operating income for full fiscal 2026, though margins still trail Netflix.
Is DIS undervalued?
+
Disney trades at a price-to-earnings multiple in the mid-teens, below its long-run historical average, which some investors read as inexpensive given record parks profit and improving streaming margins. Others argue the discount is warranted by linear-TV decline and succession risk. Whether it is undervalued depends on your assumptions about future profit growth, not a fixed answer.
How can I invest in Disney through an ETF?
+
Disney is a large holding in many broad U.S. index funds (S&P 500 ETFs) and in sector or thematic funds focused on communication services, media, and entertainment. Buying such an ETF gives you Disney exposure bundled with peers, which spreads single-stock risk but dilutes how much any one Disney move affects your return.
What is the biggest risk to Disney stock?
+
The clearest structural risk is the secular decline of linear television, since the high-margin cable affiliate fees that ESPN and the networks have relied on are eroding as audiences cut the cord. Replacing that profit with streaming and direct-to-consumer subscriptions, while funding expensive content and sports rights, is the central challenge facing the company.
Who is the CEO of Disney?
+
Bob Iger is Disney's chief executive. He originally led the company from 2005 to 2020, oversaw the Pixar, Marvel, Lucasfilm, and Fox acquisitions, and returned as CEO in late 2022 to refocus on streaming profitability, theatrical franchises, and the parks. The board is working to name his successor, and that transition remains an open question for investors.
Walnut is informational, not investment advice. Financial figures on this page are approximations; always verify current numbers with Walt Disney Company (The)'s investor relations page or your broker before making investment decisions.