- Disney has staked its future on building streaming services to compete with Netflix in the crowded market for online entertainment;
- Disney’s theme parks welcomed more visitors as pandemic restrictions eased. Theme park revenue rose for the first time in five quarters, hitting $4.34 billion. Net income for the division reached $356 million, compared with a loss of nearly $1.9 billion a year earlier when many Disney parks were closed;
- For some financial analysts, it is apparent that Disney Plus is now an indispensable video streaming service alongside Netflix.
Walt Disney‘s earnings topped Wall Street forecasts for the most recent quarter as its streaming services picked up new customers and the pandemic-hit theme parks unit recorded a profit.
Shares of the entertainment company rose 5% in after-hours trading on Thursday to $185.53. Before the earnings report, shares were roughly flat from the start of the year.
Disney‘s chief financial officer Christine McCarthy said that looking forward, theme park reservations at both U.S. parks remain strong, even as COVID cases surge.
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Florida, where the flagship Walt Disney World is located, is the epicenter of the latest U.S. outbreak, posting record cases and hospitalizations in recent days. “We are still bullish about our parks business going forward,” said CEO Bob Chapek on a call with analysts.
Disney has staked its future on building streaming services to compete with Netflix in the crowded market for online entertainment.
Disney Plus, Hulu, and ESPN Plus – the company’s three online subscription offerings – gained close to 15 million new subscribers to total nearly 174 million.
Disney Plus had 116 million paying customers at the end of the quarter, just ahead of the 115.2 million consensuses of analysts surveyed by FactSet.
“Disney is placing huge bets on streaming and is benefiting from low-hanging fruits by mirroring Netflix‘s strategy,” PP Foresight analyst Paolo Pescatore said. “It is apparent that Disney Plus is now an indispensable video streaming service alongside Netflix.”
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During the quarter, Disney Plus featured Loki, a series about the shape-shifting Marvel villain, and offered Emma Stone movie Cruella on the same day it hit theaters.
Disney‘s theme parks welcomed more visitors as pandemic restrictions eased. Theme park revenue rose for the first time in five quarters, hitting $4.34 billion. Net income for the division reached $356 million, compared with a loss of nearly $1.9 billion a year earlier when many Disney parks were closed.
The direct-to-consumer division, which includes Disney Plus, reported a loss of $293 million as it invested in programming and other costs. That compared to a loss of $624 million a year earlier.
The company’s overall revenue rose 45% to $17.02 billion in the third quarter, topping analysts’ estimate of $16.76 billion, according to IBES data from Refinitiv.
Net income from continuing operations was $923 million, or 50 cents per share, compared with a loss of $4.72 billion, or $2.61 per share, a year earlier.
