The House of Mouse or the house of rats? This is the question ousted Disney CEO Bob Chapek must be asking himself after executives led a coup culminating in his replacement with former CEO Bob Iger. Our question is whether Bob Iger’s sequel will be like Toy Story 2 or Aladdin 2: Return of Jafar (which went direct to video, when skipping the cinema was still considered a bad thing). Investors like the trailer though, with the stock already up 6%.

The lowdown

• 🐭 Disney CFO and other executives’ concerns were brought to the board before CEO’s demise.

• 💰 ARK Invest CEO Cathie Wood increases ARK’s Coinbase holdings by 19% in wake of FTX collapse.

• 👾 Carl Icahn has a short position in meme stock GameStop.

Featured stories

Beyond Meat

A week ago, in a story about alternative milk producer Oatly’s earnings, we mentioned that fellow alternative protein producer Beyond Meat was also facing widening losses. Things have not gotten any better for Beyond Meat, with its share price falling another 19% since then.

On Monday, Bloomberg reported ($) that photos and internal documents from a Beyond Meat plant in Pennsylvania evidenced food safety issues including mold in storage areas and the presence of Listeria. The stock fell 1.26% on the news.

Investors held high hopes for Beyond Meat after its 2019 IPO. Shares went public at $25, opened on the Nasdaq at $46 and closed the opening day at $65.75 – an impressive debut (or not, depending on your view of the IPO pop). It last traded at $13.28 and is down 83% in the last 12 months.

The issue is not necessarily sales, which grew 56% to $465 million between 2019 and 2021. One issue is that R&D costs have been growing three times faster. And while the company’s signature patties do now have a meatier taste, even meatier alternatives are also being developed.

The content we're consuming today

• Odd Lots podcast (from Bloomberg): Truckers are working countless hours that they’re not getting paid for.

Off-balance sheet items

• Highlights from an eventful Group B match between England and Iran – not just because of the 6-2 score line but because the Iran players did not sing their national anthem nor celebrate goals (though they were down by 4 at the points they scored so this would not be customary) in solidarity with those protesting at home.

The bottom line