Disney Fans Eyeing Iger in CEO Race

Just as a president's approval rating owes a lot to movement in unemployment figures, Iger's standing in investors' eyes will likely depend on the company's financial performance over the next two years.

From a summer 2002 low of $13.48, Disney's shares steadily climbed to a 2004 high of $28.41, thanks partly to a belief that the company had hit bottom and partly to Comcast's (CMCSA Quote) unsolicited and unsuccessful bid for Disney earlier this year.

Disney's supporters see the company's prospects continuing to improve, with Drewry, for one, calling investor bearishness "overdone and overplayed." Drewry points to a strong earnings turnaround at nearly every major division, and says that ABC is "a very good cost story" and is "pretty far down the list of important profit drivers for DIS."

But the short-seller is pessimistic about theme park attendance, saying it was weakening even before Florida's hurricane season hit. And Iger still has time to turn things around at ABC: "If we're looking back 12 months from now and saying, 'ABC had one hell of a turnaround,'" says the investor, maybe people will think better of Iger.