By Alice Seeley
Walt Disney stock reached an all-time high in March 2021, trading at $200 per share. However, it is now poised to be one of the worst-performing stocks in 2022.
The stock has been in free fall recently, dropping nearly 33% from a year ago to $120 per share, a 15% decrease since the start of 2022. Of the 30 companies that make up the Dow Jones, Disney’s stock has seen the sharpest decline, followed by industry goods company 3M, which is down 25%, and Home Depot, which decreased 23 % over the last year. According to Barron’s, Disney stock was the worst performer in the Dow Jones Industrial Average in 2021 and probably will be the same this year.
This free fall of Disney’s stock occurred in the middle of a public confrontation with Flordia Governor Ron DeSantis, which started when Disney CEO Bob Chapek opposed the “Don’t Say Gay” bill and suspended all political donations in Flordia. This bill prohibits classroom discussion about sexual orientation or gender identity in certain grades.
Governor DeSantis has openly expressed his disapproval of Disney’s actions and threatened to remove Disney’s ability to operate as a self-contained government in Florida. The Florida House voted 68-38 to end the Reedy Creek Improvement District in Orange and Osceola Counties, which gave Disney “full regulatory control over Disney World as well as government services such as fire protection, emergency services, water, utilities, sewage, and infrastructure.” The Flordia House also approved a Senate-passed bill that removed Disney’s big tech censorship exemption.
