BOB CHAPEK

These are the stocks posting the largest moves in midday trading.

Daniel Loeb's Third Point has taken a new stake in Disney, according to a letter obtained by CNBC's David Faber. In a letter to Disney CEO Bob Chapek, Loeb urged the entertainment company to integrate streamer Hulu directly into the Disney+ direct-to-consumer platform. Comcast has an agreement to sell its 33% stake in Hulu to Disney in two years. Loeb said Disney should "make every attempt" to acquire Comcast's remaining minority stake before the 2024 deadline. He had held a stake for two years from 2020 to early 2022, pushing Disney to ramp up its streaming services.

CNBC checked in with the top bosses at Disney (DIS) and Devon Energy (DVN) on Thursday. They had lots of positive things to say.

Disney is raising prices on the strength of its brand and products rather than because of inflation.

Disney streaming is also hiking fees for its services, with the monthly fee for Disney+ jumping by 38% in December.

Disney said it is raising prices for streaming subscribers in the U_S_ who want to watch Disney+ without ads as more viewers switch to what CEO Bob Chapek described Wednesday as the “best value in streaming.”.

A big quarter for Disney+ will give investors hope there's still growth in streaming, while disappointing numbers will ring alarm bells.

The Disney-backed streaming service Hulu is refusing to run political ads on central themes of Democratic midterm campaigns.

These are the stocks posting the largest moves before the bell.

Disney has extended CEO Bob Chapek's contract for three more years, the company announced Tuesday. "In this important time of growth and transformation, the Board is committed to keeping Disney on the successful path it is on today, and Bob's leadership is key to achieving that goal. Bob is the right leader at the right time for The Walt Disney Company, and the Board has full confidence in him and his leadership team." Chapek, 63, has worked for the Walt Disney Company for nearly 30 years and is its 7th CEO. He took over the position from Bob Iger in 2020 just as the coronavirus pandemic began to shuttered different facets of the entertainment industry.

Authorities across much of the Muslim world have barred Disney’s latest animated film “Lightyear” from being played at cinemas after the inclusion of a brief kiss between a lesbian couple.

The Walt Disney Co. is delaying by more than three years the opening of a campus in Florida to which 2,000 workers were being relocated from Southern California to work in digital technology, finance and product development.

By the time that Taika Waititi's untitled Star Wars film hits theaters in 2023, it will have been four years since the franchise has been on the big screen.

Sir Elton John is preparing to say goodbye in fabulous splendor, with the help of a documentary crew and the Walt Disney Co. Disney Original Documentary and Disney+ said Wednesday that the film, entitled “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road: The Final Elton John Performances and the Years that Made his Legend,” will serve as the definitive and official feature on John’s life and career.

Previous clashes between Republican lawmakers and prominent businesses in the states they control have not always worked out as planned.

This is how a culture war death spirals.

"We don't know where we are going," district official says of the state's feud with its biggest private employer.

Company tells investors it is business as usual in the Sunshine State, despite feud with governor and lawmakers.

Ron DeSantis' retaliation against wokeness isn't built on principle, just pretext, but corporate America should think twice about participating in the culture wars.

Placeholder while article actions loadAfter weeks of sparring with the Walt Disney Co. after they criticized one of his prize pieces of legislation, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Friday signed a law that dismantles a special tax district created 55 years ago that enabled the company to build what has become the world’s most popular theme park. ”You‘re going to marshal your company’s might to attack the parents of Florida?” DeSantis said Friday. Disney has not commented on the legislation since DeSantis introduced it Tuesday during a special legislative session. This program called Reimagine Tomorrow is not only morally wrong, it is now illegal in the state of Florida,” Rufo said.

Disney management should be able to clean up the company's debt-heavy balance sheet, which is one reason the Club believes in the stock long-term.

Placeholder while article actions loadFlorida’s Republican-led state legislature on Thursday passed a bill sought by Gov. Ron DeSantis to cancel Walt Disney World’s special tax district in Florida. That law prohibits discussions about gender-related issues in public school classes up to third grade, and potentially through high school. The Disney law will dissolve the entertainment giant’s Reedy Creek Improvement District, which was created in 1967 after Walt Disney bought 40 square miles of land in Central Florida to build the Magic Kingdom. Disney lobbyists said the project was too massive for local governments to handle, so legislators gave Disney the authority to run the development as a quasi-governmental agency.

Charlee Corra Disney, who came out as transgender, said they regretted not speaking out earlier against Florida's "don't say gay" bill.

Daily Wire Kids is the conservative company’s newest push into the entertainment industry.

A divisive Florida law banning schools from discussing sexual orientation and gender identity in kindergarten through third grade is likely to face legal challenges.

Disney has vowed to help have Florida's HB 1557 law, known as the "Don't Say Gay" bill, repealed.

Throughout the day, pockets of employees staged demonstrations at various sites across the country.

Union leaders for employees at Disney theme parks advised workers not to walk out because doing so would defy contractual obligations.

Controversial measure would bar schools from instructing younger students on sexual orientation or gender identity.

The full-scale walkout is a bid to urge the company to take a stronger stance against the Parental Rights in Education legislation in Florida, what critics have called the "Don't Say Gay" bill.

With some workers across the U.S. staging a walkout, The Walt Disney Co. finds itself performing a high-wire act of balancing the expectations of a diverse workforce against demands from an increasingly polarized and politicized marketplace.

Former Disney CEO Bob Iger chose Bob Chapek to succeed him, but their relationship soured quickly, and the pressure is on Chapek to show he's right for Disney.

Several ESPN broadcasters on Friday participated in an on-air moment of silence to protest Florida’s Parental Rights in Education bill.

Workers plan to walk out because of CEO Bob Chapek's slow response to publicly denounce what critics have dubbed the "Don't Say Gay" bill.

Senior leaders at Disney's studios have expressed their frustration to CEO Bob Chapek about his handling of the "Don't Say Gay" bill in Florida, sources say.

Despite movies with LGBTQ characters and "gay days" at its theme parks, Disney has contributed funding to every Republican that supported the anti-LGBTQ legislation known as the "Don't Say Gay" bill. In response to backlash, the company says it will pause political donations in Florida.

"Discrimination is bad for business," says new ad signed by companies including Alphabet, Apple and Johnson & Johnson.

Disney CEO Bob Chapek apologized for not being a "stronger ally" for the LGBTQ+ community and for the company's silence over Florida's "Don't Say Gay" bill.

The Walt Disney Company is now publicly opposing Florida's controversial "Don't Say Gay" bill.

Disney CEO Bob Chapek appointed Mike White to formulate the company's metaverse strategy.

This live-action prequel show will star Ewan McGregor as the legendary Jedi Knight

Disney CEO Bob Chapek offered strong commentary in a CNBC interview before the company's earnings call after a top-and-bottom line beat.

Disney added 11.8 million Disney+ subscribers last quarter, easing investor concern of a slowdown in the streaming market.

Disney is set to report earnings for its fiscal first quarter of 2022 after the bell on Wednesday.

Disney has formed a new international content group to expand its pipeline in local and regional markets and bolster its global subscriber numbers.

Dr. Tom Frieden, former CDC director and current president and CEO of Resolve to Save Lives, joins “CBS Mornings” to discuss the latest on Omicron and the CDC’s new COVID isolation and quarantine guidelines.

Susan Arnold, who has been a board member for 14 years, will succeed Bob Iger at the end of the year.

Disney may show slowing growth of its Disney+ streaming service when it reports fiscal fourth-quarter earnings after the bell Wednesday.

Disney has executed the transition to streaming effectively, but its popular ESPN channels are still reliant on traditional pay TV.

Disney CEO Bob Chapek warned Covid production delays due to the delta variant has created a smaller slate of new content than Disney had hoped.

President Joe Biden will discuss corporate vaccine mandates with top executives from Disney, Microsoft and Walgreens Boots Alliance.

The film’s massive success is a reminder that viewers still want fresh storytelling, not just recognizable faces—even from Hollywood’s biggest franchise.

All films set to come out 2021 will be released in cinemas, handing a boost to struggling venues.

On what’s traditionally one of the sleepiest weekends at the movies, the Marvel film “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings” smashed the record for Labor Day openings with an estimated $71.4 million in ticket sales.

The Walt Disney Company has "figured out ways to fairly compensate" talent regardless of its film release method, CEO Bob Chapek said Thursday.

Longtime PR chief Zenia Mucha, who came from the world of politics, was a key advisor to three Disney CEOs and led the company through numerous PR crises.

Steven Yeun, Nathan Lane, Issa Rae, Robert Pattinson, Janet Jackson, Leslie Odom Jr. and Laverne Cox are among the artists being invited to join the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

Over the past few weeks, Florida’s theme parks, from Disney to Universal and Busch Gardens, have quietly eased their limits on crowd capacity. Face masks and social distancing aren’t required if you are vaccinated, though that is on the honor system. Theme parks were among the most strict businesses when it came to COVID-19 safety and reopening. They banned neck gaiters, open-chin triangle ...

A number of states have embraced new federal guidelines that say fully vaccinated people no longer need to wear masks indoors or out in most situations.

Disney’s top executive says the CDC’s decision to ease up mask-wearing requirements for fully vaccinated people is “very big news for us.”.

Disney second-quarter revenue dropped as the pandemic continued to weigh on its parks and theme parks.

In this combination photo, Alan Bergman, left, and Alan F. Horn, attend the premiere of "The Mandalorian" in Los Angeles on Nov. 13, 2019. The Walt Disney Company announced Monday, Dec. 21, 2020 that Bergman has been named Chairman, Disney Studios Content, effective January 1, and Horn will continue to serve as the divisions Chief Creative Officer. (Photo by Mark Von Holden/Invision/AP, file)Walt Disney Co. veteran Alan Bergman has been named chairman of Disney Studios, the company said Monday. “The Walt Disney Studios’ achievements under the leadership of Alan Horn and Alan Bergman have been nothing short of extraordinary,” said Bob Chapek, Walt Disney Co. CEO, in a statement. Bergman has worked at Disney for 24 years and served as president of Walt Disney Studios from 2005 to 2019, helping to integrate Pixar, Lucasfilm, Marvel and Twenty-First Century Fox into the Disney stable of brands.

NEW YORK – The Walt Disney Co.’s streaming plans shifted into hyper speed Thursday, as the studio unveiled a galaxy’s worth of new streaming offerings including plans for 10 “Star Wars” series spinoffs and 10 Marvel series that will debut on Disney+. But Disney also kept its biggest films — including Marvel's “Black Widow," Pixar's “Luca,” a “Lion King” prequel — on course for theatrical release. Jenkins becomes the first woman to direct a “Star Wars” film. Among the “Star Wars” series are two spinoffs of “The Mandalorian,” set during the series' timeline: “Rangers of the New Republic” and “Ahsoka,” with Rosario Dawson. Seven Disney films topped $1 billion worldwide.

ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. – Disney CEO Bob Chapek told investors they are seeing high demand and strong attendance at the parks in Orlando, as first reported by ClickOrlando. Chapek said they are now allowing the parks to have up to 35 percent of total capacity each day, which is up from 25 percent. Additionally, Thursday was the release of Disney’s fourth quarter and full fiscal year earnings. Disney’s quarter four revenues were over 14.7 billion, that’s down 23 percent from last year. The report shows Disney’s fiscal year revenue was 65.3 billion, down about 6 percent from last year.

The company said in August that its Disney Plus service has more than 60 million subscribers, and subscribers to its main combination of streaming services — Disney Plus, ESPN Plus and Hulu — top 100 million. It still plans to launch another international streaming service called Star. Disney has released several major titles on streaming services that would traditionally have appeared at cinemas, like a live-action remake of "Mulan" and the upcoming Pixar film “Soul" that will hit Disney Plus at Christmas. Their primary focus will be on making shows and movies for streaming services, Disney CEO Bob Chapek said in a statement. Disney Plus is considered one of the most successful so far.

NEW YORK – The Pixar film “Soul” will skip theaters and instead premiere on Disney+ on Christmas, the Walt Disney Co. announced Thursday, sending one of the fall's last big movies straight to streaming. The successive delays of the film industry's would-be blockbusters has only made the dire circumstances of movie theaters more acute. Without aid, the organization said, 69% of small and mid-sized movie theater companies will close or go bankrupt. “The stark reality is that many movie theaters will not be able to open again if they don’t receive government help,” says Esther Baruh, director of government relations for the association. It recently announced that it would lay off 28,000 workers, most of them at Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, California, and Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida.

This combination shows Yifei Liu in the title role of "Mulan," left, and John David Washington in a scene from "Tenet." On Thursday, Christopher Nolans Tenet will arrive in U.S. theaters, the first big movie to head to cinemas since the pandemic began. I didnt expect that many people to show up.More Americans will make their way back to the movies this weekend than any since the pandemic shuttered theaters in March. After debuting in Europe, Canada and Korea last weekend, Tenet on Thursday lands in the 75% open U.S. theaters, along with cinemas in China on Friday. As long as its done in a sensible way.As difficult as the circumstances are, Warner Bros. also sees opportunity.

ORLANDO, Fla. – Walt Disney World is set to once again open its gates to the Magic Kingdom following a lengthy closure due to the coronavirus pandemic. But with most families staying inside and not traveling, how crowded will the theme parks really be when they reopen? Park Capacity Capacity at 25% Magic Kingdom 57,000 people 14,250 people Epcot 34,093 people 8,523 people Hollywood Studios 30,843 people 7,710 people Animal Kingdom 37,671 people 9,417 peopleA park at 25% capacity would mean very minimal wait times. As we can all imagine, visiting a Disney theme park when it reopens will be a new experience for all -- no matter how many times you’ve visited. The Magic Kingdom and Disney’s Animal Kingdom parks will open first July 11, with Epcot and Disney’s Hollywood Studios reopening July 15.