Disney shares closed just under $103 on Friday, Sept. 18, about 49 percent below their March 2021 peak. The Motley Fool calls it a buying chance. Not everyone on Wall Street is that eager.
Disney stock closed Friday, Sept. 18, at just under $103 a share. On March 8, 2021, it closed at $201.91.
That’s close to a 50 percent haircut. For the company that owns Marvel, Star Wars, Pixar and the busiest theme parks on the planet, it’s a weird place to be sitting.
On Sept. 19, The Motley Fool ran a piece by Neil Patel asking whether Disney stock is a buy, sell or hold at “47% below its all-time high.” His answer was buy.
The timing had a wrinkle. Patel’s 47 percent figure used the Sept. 17 price. Disney dropped roughly another 2.5 percent on Friday, so the real gap is now closer to 49 percent.
How far has Disney stock fallen from its all-time high?
All-time closing high: $201.91 on March 8, 2021
Close on Sept. 17, 2026: $105.35
Close on Sept. 18, 2026: just under $103
Friday’s slide also pushed the stock below its 200-day moving average, which sat around $104, according to Dividend Channel. Traders watch that line as a sign of where momentum is heading.
The dip landed the same week Disney named Character.AI chief Karandeep Anand as its first-ever chief technology officer. Nobody has tied the two together officially, and a single bad trading day rarely has just one cause.
The 2021 peak came at the tail end of the Disney+ boom. In the five years leading up to it, Patel notes, the stock was up 106 percent.
Why does the Motley Fool think Disney stock is a buy?
Patel’s case starts with streaming, which finally makes real money.
In Disney’s fiscal third quarter, which ended June 27, its streaming business more than doubled its operating income. 24/7 Wall St. puts that number at $712 million. Revenue in the same quarter grew 11 percent, per Patel.
Then there are the parks. Patel says Disney’s Experiences segment brings in 39 percent of the company’s revenue but 54 percent of its operating income. Theme parks, cruises and merch are still the money machine.
He also leans on price. Disney trades at about 14.5 times expected earnings, which Patel says is a 28 percent discount to the S&P 500. Analysts expect earnings per share to grow about 11.8 percent a year from fiscal 2025 through fiscal 2028.
His bottom line: “now is the time for investors to buy Disney.”
What could keep Disney stock down?
Patel doesn’t pretend cable is fine. U.S. cable subscriptions peaked at more than 100 million households around 2010, and they’ve shrunk every year since. That drags on ABC and ESPN.
“It’s impossible to know how long the industry’s fall will go on,” he writes.
24/7 Wall St. adds a few more worries: ESPN carriage fights, a spotty box office and the chance that families cut back on park trips and cruises. That box office point has teeth. The Mandalorian and Grogu wrapped its run as the lowest-grossing live-action Star Wars movie.
And the scoreboard has gotten harder to read. The Fool’s 191 million Disney+ and Hulu subscriber count dates to September 2025, because Disney stopped reporting subscriber numbers after that.
Zacks Investment Research, meanwhile, rates Disney a Hold.
What do Wall Street analysts expect for Disney stock?
Most analysts are closer to Patel than to Zacks. As of Sept. 15, 30 of the 33 analysts tracked by 24/7 Wall St. rated Disney a buy, with an average price target of $128.34. That’s about 25 percent above Friday’s close.
Disney is also buying back $9 billion of its own stock, which props up earnings per share.
The next big test is Disney’s fiscal fourth-quarter report, which 24/7 Wall St. pegs for Nov. 11. Zacks expects $1.66 a share for the quarter, about 50 percent above the same quarter last year.
It’s also the first full-year outlook from Josh D’Amaro, who took over as CEO from Bob Iger on March 18. Whatever he says about fiscal 2027 will probably move the stock more than any column will.
We cover theme parks, not portfolios, and nothing here is financial advice. Do your own homework before you buy anything with mouse ears on it.
Article compiled with the help of the Pirates & Princesses newsroom.
Pirates and Princesses is your destination for Disney news, theme park updates, and the pop culture you love. From Disney cruises and travel tips to Disney fashion, food, collectibles, and movie news, PNP covers it all. Visit us at piratesandprincesses.net for daily coverage. Follow PNP on Facebook and Instagram, and listen to the Pirates & Princesses podcast on Apple Podcasts and YouTube.
Hat Tips:
The Motley Fool (Sept. 19, 2026), Neil Patel’s buy case, valuation figures, Experiences share and cable bear case
Stock Analysis and Zacks via Yahoo Finance (Sept. 18, 2026), Sept. 17 and Sept. 18 closing prices and the Zacks Hold rating
Dividend Channel (Sept. 18, 2026), the 200-day moving average break
24/7 Wall St. (Sept. 15, 2026), analyst consensus, streaming operating income, buyback and earnings date
Macrotrends, Disney’s March 8, 2021 all-time closing high
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