Minnie Mouse at the new Magic Happens Parade in Main Street USA at Disneyland in Anaheim, CA, on Thursday, February 27, 2020.
Jeff Gritchen | Orange County Register | Getty Images
Shares in Disney rose 5% in late trading on Monday after California gave new guidance on April 1 to reopen state parks in the state.
The protest will add more than $ 15 billion to Disney’s market capitalization, bringing it to about $ 360 billion.
Disneyland and other California parks have been closed for about a year due to coronavirus-related restrictions, even though other states, such as Florida, have allowed parks with limited capacity to reopen. Disney has not yet provided a reopening date for its California parks, but Disney and other theme park owners, including NBCUniversal, owner of Universal Studios, have pleaded with California officials to allow a limited reopening.
The new state regulation allows amusement parks to reopen with capacity from 15% to 35% from 1 April, depending on the prevalence of the virus in the community. Masks and other health measures are required.
The strike prompted Disney to lay off tens of thousands of workers and cut a significant income for the media company. Disney said its parks and experiences sector saw a 53% drop in revenue in December compared to last year to $ 3.58 billion. According to Disney, the closure of coronavirus cost the division about $ 2.6 billion in lost operating revenue for the quarter.
Officials are becoming more optimistic about returning to normalcy as more people are vaccinated against Covid-19. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Monday that people who have been fully vaccinated can gather safely inside the home without masks. While its parks in California have remained closed to visitors, Disneyland recently began helping the public health effort by serving as a vaccination site for state residents.
In addition to the theme park news, Disney can also make a profit in its film industry. More theaters in North America are opening, with 45% of theaters in the region open this past weekend, up from 42% the previous weekend, according to Comscore.
The move came on a mixed market day, with many tech and social media companies falling, while some traditional media companies collapsing. For example, ViacomCBS shares rose 8% and Discovery shares rose more than 2%.
Disclosure: NBCUniversal is the parent company of both Universal Studios and CNBC.
– CNBC’s Sarah Whitten contributed to this report.
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