Thursday saw shares of Walt Disney fall 3.9%, closing at the lowest level seen in nine years, as investor now fear that the next few months will see even deeper declines.
Following promises from CEO Bob Iger that the company would implement a mix of price hikes across its streaming services, additional ad placements, and further cost cuts to boost revenues and profits, Disney stockholders are now scrutinizing those plans with suspicious eyes.
According to data from options analytics firm Trade Alert, Disney options saw heavy volume on Thursday, with 321,000 contracts traded, 1.4 times the normal level of daily volume.
Among the most actively traded contracts were bearish bets featuring put options designed to guard against shares falling below 80 by mid-September and mid-October, as sentiment surrounding the stock deteriorated.
Put options allow the sale of shares at a fixed price in the future. Also affecting sentiment was weakness in the broader market, caused by caution as a speech by US Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell looms later in the week.
In the company’s earnings report released on August 9th, the company’s CEO acknowledged the company would face a “challenging environment” over the near-term. Since then, the share price has fallen over 5%.
The company’s stock price was $82.47, the lowest it has been since October 16, 2014.