Disney beat back activist investor Nelson Peltz. Now the real work begins

Disney shareholders overwhelmingly voted to keep the company’s current board intact during Wednesday’s annual meeting, suggesting they believe current CEO Bob Iger has a plan to boost shares and install a strong successor.

Now, Iger will have to prove it, or he risks facing yet another activist campaign this time next year.

Iger can show progress in a number of areas over the next 12 months. That starts with turning his streaming services into a profitable unit, explaining ESPN’s digital strategy, scoring some box-office hits and picking a successor with a transition plan.

If Disney struggles to show investors the entertainment giant has a coherent strategy, or if Iger kicks the succession can down the road once more, activist investors may be knocking on the company’s door again during next year’s annual meeting to demand change.

“They still have the same problems they’ve had before, which are really industry problems,” said TD Cowen analyst Doug Creutz. “Direct-to-consumer streaming is just economically inferior to the old linear bundle model, which is going away. They have to try to manage through that.”

Peltz told CNBC on Thursday that he would not wage another proxy fight if Iger shows progress on his key priorities.

“I hope Bob can keep his promises,” Peltz said Thursday. ” I hope they can do all the things they assured us they were going to do. I’ll watch and wait. If they do it, they won’t hear from me again.”

Disney said earlier this year it plans to turn a profit in its streaming TV businesses in its fiscal fourth quarter this year.

That would mark a milestone for the company, which launched Disney+ on Nov. 12, 2019. It would be the first time Disney showed it can make money from Disney+, Hulu and ESPN+.

Disney will need to sustain and grow streaming profit to justify…