Walt Disney's victory in its proxy fight to prevent activist investor Nelson Peltz from installing two new board members at the company is a vote of confidence for some analysts that Disney is headed in the right direction --  especially for its highly scrutinized streaming video business.

About 75% of Disney’s retail shareholders voted against Nelson Peltz and his Trian Fund Management’s slate of two directors, and also against another activist slate of three new directors from Blackwells Capital.

Peltz has been concerned about Disney’s languishing direct-to-consumer (D2C) business, which includes Disney+, Hulu, and ESPN+. He wants a quicker road to profitability -- all to hopefully boost Disney's poor-performing stock price.

Last month Bob Iger, CEO of Walt Disney, said the D2C division will sustain consistent profitability starting in the fourth quarter of its fiscal year 2024.

Adding to this positive news, Laura Martin, media analyst at Needham & Co., said on CNBC on Wednesday, that on Disney+ there are more consistent top-level movies scheduled on a regular basis which will stir business.

“On streaming they now have a tentpole movie coming out every month, which will help the numbers a lot.”

Better news -- in terms of higher streaming revenue -- could come from Disney’s recent announcement of a new, major sports-focused streaming app, a joint venture of Disney’s ESPN,  Fox Corp. and Warner Bros Discovery. 

“There are 10 million cord-cutters that are not getting sports right now,” she told CNBC on Wednesday.

Overall, she says, Disney has the best chance of competing directly with industry leader Netflix, more than other legacy TV-based media companies.

“They have a lot more outlets to put [content] on," said Martin. “They have ABC, they have cable channels, they also have streaming... which means they are getting paid from a lot of different slices. Netflix only has one outlet.” 

Still, there is work to be done. This includes some theme parks where some admission prices have been soaring. In addition, Martin says Disney’s theatrical movie business needs better content in the theaters.

Last year Universal Studios topped Walt Disney in box-office revenue. Disney had a number of misfires including Marvel’s “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania,” “The Marvels,” and “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny.”

“The Disney engine is driven by box office successes, both in the parks and in consumer products," Martin says.

Walt Disney stock price closed down 3% on Wednesday to $118.98. Disney stock has been up 19% over the last 12 months, and 31% higher year-to-date.