As investigations continue into the cause of this week's accident at the Thunder River Rapids ride, which claimed the lives of four people, investors are trying to assess the future structure of the company. Ardent had signalled before the tragedy it was moving its focus to its more lucrative event business in the United States. Preparing for this step, shareholders approved a name change from Ardent Leisure to Main Event Entertainment at the company's emotional shareholder meeting on Thursday.

One option that the company hasn't ruled out after the tragedy could see Ardent sell the theme park division - which includes Dreamworld and adjacent WhiteWater World on the Gold Coast - off to a private operator and exit the business.

Facing shareholders and the media at the group's annual general meeting, outgoing chairman Neil Balnaves said that while there was no intention to sell the theme parks, it could be an option in the future.

"A disaster like this would not require a cut and run philosophy," Mr Balnaves said.

"But I cannot say that tomorrow someone comes in and offers an absolutely fabulous price and the board of directors then looked at the offer and made a decision on that basis.

"But we certainly would not be cutting and running. But I don't cut out any options in the future."

There have been suggestions in the past year that the giant Chinese group Wanda had looked at Dreamworld as a potential acquisition.

In the nearer term, the board is battling to stem the financial fallout from the accident - which is hard to gauge in the face of potential lawsuits, the fun park's now tarnished image and uncertainty as to when it will be able to reopen for business.

The company warned on Thursday that theme park earnings would take a "substantial" hit in the current financial year following the fatal accident.

"It will have a material effect on Dreamworld's result in the second half, there's no doubt about that", Mr Balnaves told Ardent's shareholders. "And there will be a continuing effect, I would expect, through the next financial year, but it will diminish as time goes by."

But stock broking analysts have been quick to downgrade the stock, with UBS slashing its 12-month price target for the shares by 31 per cent to $2.10.

The stock was down 5 per cent at $2.04 on Thursday afternoon, having plunged more than 25 per cent now since Tuesday's accident.

"We have cut our parks attendance revenue and earnings before interest, tax and depreciation forecasts following the recent tragic event at Dreamworld," UBS says, predicting a 75 per cent profit plunge this year and expecting earnings in 2017/18 still won't get to even half of those booked last year.

"We now forecast EBITDA [operating earnings] to fall from $34.7 million to $9 million in the 2017 financial year, before recovering to $14 million in the 2018 year", the broker said.

Credit Suisse analysts reckon the ultimate worst case scenario for Dreamworld would be a closure of the park - with a potential sale of the potential land to housing developers.

"Whilst we believe this is unlikely in the near term, with key stakeholders likely to want the asset to succeed, we do note that the site spans 850,000 square metres which is owned by Ardent, and does sit in a growth corridor for residential housing," Credit Suisse says.

"Our initial view is that Ardent's carrying value for Dreamworld of $235 million would be supported under this scenario. We also note the Dreamworld site occupies 85 hectares which might open alternative uses in a worst-case situation."

High rises instead of rollercoasters? While such a land sale could blunt the financial impact for Ardent and its shareholders, it would likely be a very different story for the Gold Coast's tourism industry.