• by Wayne Friedman , September 21, 2021

Walt Disney’s stock took a sharp 4.2% dip on Tuesday after Bob Chapek, CEO of the company, said Disney+ has “hit some headwinds” related to COVID-19 issues in its current fiscal fourth-quarter period.

Disney’s stock closed down to $171.17 on Tuesday after Chapek, speaking at an industry conference, said Disney+ would see “low single digit millions” subscriber gains in the quarterly period.

Some analysts have been estimating north of 10 million in new subscriber gains in the period for Disney+.

In its second fiscal quarter of 2021, Disney+ missed on that period’s analysts' expectations -- about 7 million subscribers short -- landing at 103.6 million subscribers.

But Disney+ recovered in succeeding periods.

In August of this year, the company said Disney+ had 116 million subscribers. In 2024, Disney has estimated 230 million to 260 million in global subscribers.

Chapek points to issues facing Disney+ -- including a delay of Disney’s new Star+ streaming service, and specifically, some challenges with “partnerships” in Latin America.

There have also been pandemic-related content production delays, including many months of suspension of the India Premier League, the country’s big cricket league, which recently started up again.