This might be a holiday-shortened trading week for investors, but it doesn't mean that Walt Disney (DIS +1.34%) is taking a break. The media giant has a busy slate to tackle in the coming days. Both shareholders and fans will be seeing a lot of headlines about the House of Mouse this week.
Disney+ Day is coming on Thursday, giving subscribers of the fast-growing premium streaming video service new content to check out. Then we get three days of presentations at the D23 Expo, an event that is returning after a three-year absence with big news across the entertainment bellwether's various properties.
Image source: Disney.
Disney+ Day
It's hard to believe that Disney+ launched less than three years ago. The streaming service is now up to 152.1 million subscribers worldwide. Disney+ Day was introduced in November last year, celebrating the platform turning two with a wave of new content. It's back this year, but the celebration is coming two months earlier.
There will be new shows and enhanced takes on existing content, but the big draw on Thursday could be a pair of films making their debut on the platform. Marvel's Thor: Love and Thunder is coming to Disney+ just three months after its silver-screen premiere. In terms of original content, a live-action reboot of Pinocchio will also roll out on Disney+ Day. Disney has been able to breathe new life into some of its classic animated features by presenting them with actual filmed actors in fresh settings. Pinocchio is going to turn heads, as it stars Tom Hanks as Geppetto and is being directed by Robert Zemeckis.
With Disney dramatically increasing prices on the ad-free Disney+ three months later, it needs to prove that it has a healthy flow of compelling content coming. Moving Disney+ Day to September instead of November could be a move to distance itself from the price hike, but it could also be setting up the D23 Expo event taking place over the weekend.
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D23 Expo
Disney's big multiday event featuring presentations on its media entertainment and theme parks business usually takes place every other year, although the schedule was interrupted by the pandemic. When the D23 exposition comes to the Anaheim Convention Center on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, it will be the first event since 2019.
There will be a lot of stuff to take in over the weekend. Many of the scheduled presentations will be deep dives into existing offerings -- catering more to diehard fans of all things Disney -- but there will also be some big reveals on upcoming content and potential theme park attractions.
Disney's business is rebounding, but its stock is still well short of its all-time highs. This is why the headlines coming out of D23 will matter to more than just the company's biggest fans who are paying to attend the presentations. The biggest stories emerging from the D23 Expo can help move the media stock. In short, a lot of investors will be watching Disney this week.
