Walt Disney Co.’s stock
DIS,
rose 6.9% in Thursday trading to record its best day in nearly three years.
The stock registered its largest one-day percentage gain since Dec. 11, 2020, when it rose 13.6%, according to Dow Jones Market Data. Shares were the best performer in the Dow Jones Industrial Average
DJIA,
and the second-best performer in the S&P 500
SPX.
Thursday’s rally followed Disney’s upbeat earnings report an afternoon earlier.
Read: Disney may be on the ‘precipice’ of real change for investors
“Our key takeaway from the report and call is the same as last quarter, which is that DIS is making progress against management’s lengthy to-do list,” Goldman Sachs analyst Brett Feldman wrote in a note to clients. “The most notable area of traction, in our view, is against DIS’s cost savings initiatives.”
Bernstein’s Laurent Yoon added that Disney’s “focus was profitable growth and, by the way, dividends are coming back.”
Opinion: Disney CEO Bob Iger is getting his hands dirty as he focuses on studio woes — will be it enough?
But TD Cowen’s Doug Creutz remained a bit more cautious. “Management spotlighted four pillars for future growth, including revitalizing studio performance through reduced output; our analysis suggests, however, that problems at the studio are more complex than film quantity dynamics,” he wrote.
Disney’s stock has struggled in recent years, dropping 48% over a two-year span, while the S&P 500 has fallen only 6%. Media stocks in general have had a tough go, with Warner Bros. Discovery Inc.
WBD,
off 64% over the past two years and Paramount Global
PARA,
down 66% in that period.
See also: Warner Bros.’ stock sees worst day in two years after warning about debt
