Disney CEO Bob Iger: I wouldn't mind AI replacing me on earnings calls

Now that boomerang Disney (DIS) CEO Bob Iger has fired a lot of people and freed up billions of dollars in resources, perhaps he could stand up a top coding team to execute one ultimate wish: IgerGPT.

"Well, I'm looking forward to a time where maybe AI does earnings calls for me," the real Iger (we think) quipped on Disney's earnings call on Wednesday. "And you probably wouldn't know the difference, perhaps. Maybe they'd be better, I don't know."

Talk about a dig at the Wall Street analyst community, which has long craved face time with the King of Corporate America on Disney's earnings day.

A person familiar with Iger's thinking said it was a "joke."

But Iger's call-out was part of a broader discussion on how AI may shape the future of Disney.

"It's pretty clear that AI developments represent some pretty interesting opportunities for us and some substantial benefits," Iger said on the call. "In fact, we're already starting to use AI to create some efficiencies and ultimately to better serve consumers. Getting closer to the customer is something that is a real goal of ours, and we think that AI will provide some great opportunities to do that."

Iger acknowledged the risks around new AI tools and software, calling them "highly disruptive." But, in the eyes of Iger, the rewards for Disney appear to outweigh the risks.

"I'd have to say, overall, I'm bullish about the prospects because I think [AI will] create efficiencies and ways for us to basically provide better services to customers," Iger added.

Given how Disney's most recent quarter shook out, who could blame Iger for wanting to trade spots with IgerGPT on an earnings call?

Quarterly earnings missed analyst estimates by a penny.

Disney+ subscribers fell short of analyst estimates amid a fresh round of price hikes, Yahoo Finance's Alexandra Canal reported. The streaming platform lost a staggering $659 million in the quarter on top of an $887 million loss a year ago. And the company's streaming business has lost a total of $3.3 billion in the past three quarters.

Iger promised to stay focused on cost cuts as part of a $5.5 billion cost-slashing campaign announced several months ago upon his return as CEO.

Disney stock plunged 8.5% in afternoon trading on Thursday. The company's ticker page was the most visited on the Yahoo Finance platform.

"Our hold rating on Disney is based on rising direct-to-consumer (DTC) losses and our belief that consensus estimates for Disney are too high owing to high investment levels in DTC and another year of weak earnings from linear TV and box office," Needham analyst Laura Martin wrote in a client note.

Somehow we think IgerGPT wouldn't agree with Martin's take either... much like the real Iger.

Brian Sozzi is Yahoo Finance's Executive Editor. Follow Sozzi on Twitter @BrianSozzi and on LinkedIn. Tips on deals, mergers, activist situations or anything else? Email brian.sozzi@yahoofinance.com

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