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Market Data Table

Breakfast News: Why Disney May Cut Many More Jobs

April 9, 2026

Wednesday's Markets
S&P 500 6,783 (+2.51%)
Nasdaq 22,635 (+2.80%)
Dow 47,910 (+2.85%)
Bitcoin $71,467 (+3.13%)

Bar chart showing Disney's long-term debt over the past three years, starting at $42 billion in the third quarter of 2023 and declining to $36 billion by the fourth quarter of 2025.

1) Disney to Cut 1,000 Jobs Under D'Amaro

The WSJ reports Disney (NYSE:DIS) is planning to cut up to 1,000 jobs in the near term, continuing to streamline and cut costs as it adjusts to lower box office income and higher streaming competition. The stock was little changed ahead of market open.

Most job losses to be in the consolidated marketing team: The cuts would build on the 8,000 cumulative redundancies made since the start of the last transformation in 2022, although this is still relatively modest when compared to the 231,000 total employees from the end of the fiscal year 2025.
Waiting for direction under new CEO Josh D'Amaro: Having taken over last month, D'Amaro is expected to reveal his priorities shortly but will likely include a push for different divisions to collaborate more quickly and efficiently. Disney is recommended by Team Rule Breakers in Stock Advisor.

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2) Constellation Dips as Results Lack Fizz

Constellation Brands (NYSE:STZ) nudged down around 1% before the opening bell after full-year results showed a mixed outlook, with overall sales down 3% due to weaker consumer spending amid broader economic uncertainty.

"Despite the dynamic operating environment … we remained focused on the factors within our control": CEO Bill Newlands noted the financial pressures on lower-income households but detailed how the beer division returned to growth in the fourth quarter, driven by higher volumes.
" Investors need management to confront reality head-on": Yesterday, Fool analyst Emily Flippen said management is "still talking about beer and alcohol growth as if the category headwinds are temporary." She further noted, "What Constellation Brands seems to have forgotten is that it doesn't matter whether you're outperforming in a dying industry. The industry is still dying."

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3) Fed Mulls Rate Hikes on War Inflation

The latest minutes from the Federal Reserve's March meeting detailed a growing openness to increasing interest rates in the pursuit of countering any inflationary impact from the conflict in Iran.

"Many participants pointed to the risk of inflation remaining elevated for longer than expected": The sensitivity of inflation expectations due to increases in energy prices led some participants to express the "possibility that upwards adjustments to the target range for the federal funds rate could be appropriate if inflation were to remain at above-target levels."
FedWatch pricing remains on hold for now: The CME FedWatch tool implies over a 96% probability of interest rates staying on hold for the April, June, and July meetings, indicating a different market view from the latest Fed minutes.

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4) Ackman Eyes New Fund to Bet on Complacency

The FT reports that Pershing Square Capital founder Bill Ackman is looking to launch a spin-off fund to try to exploit investor complacency via large concentrated macro trades.

Potential to boost company fee earnings from "asymmetric" fund: The strategy behind the new fund would aim to make wagers against the prevailing narrative in the markets at any given time, mimicking his profitable trade from the start of the pandemic that yielded a $2.6 billion windfall.
Added publicity ahead of likely IPO: Ackman is preparing to take his main hedge fund public along with a separate new closed-end fund, aiming to raise between $5 billion and $10 billion in the process.

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5) Your Take

Fool member John Simpson emailed last week to say, "It intrigues me why all my Nasdaq stocks have plunged because of the Middle East conflict. They are all part of the push to develop data centers. So, apart from the transport aspect, why would or should they be so affected? I can only think it must be the professional market players doing their roller coaster poker bit."

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