The Walt Disney Company reported strong financial results in the last quarter, with a 13% increase in revenue compared to the same period last year, reaching approximately $21.82 billion, surpassing Refinitiv analysts’ projection of $21.79 billion. The company’s net profit almost tripled, and diluted earnings per share excluding certain items hit $0.93, which was consistent with analysts’ expectations. Due to cancellations in India, Disney’s shares dropped 5% in extended trading as it lost four million global subscribers from the previous quarter to 157.8 million.
Disney reduced losses at Disney+ by increasing prices, leading to a 26% smaller quarterly operating loss for its direct-to-consumer services, which reached $659 million, partly offset by lower operating income at Hulu. With over 231.3 million subscribers, the company has seen a decrease in operating losses from 234.7 million in the first quarter and 205.6 million in the second quarter of 2022. During the earnings call, Disney’s CEO Bob Iger highlighted the reduction in operating losses associated with streaming and expressed optimism about the company’s “longer-term” direct-to-consumer business.
Disney plans to offer a one-app experience domestically that incorporates Hulu content via Disney+ by the end of the year to create a growth business with streaming. Furthermore, the company indicated that the ad-free Disney+ subscription option would undergo a price hike later in 2023 to better reflect the value of its content offerings. The Disney Media and Entertainment Distribution segment (DMED) also included linear networks, which generated $6.63 billion in revenue and $1.83 billion in operating income during the second quarter.
About $7.78 billion of Disney’s revenue came from its parks, experiences, and products segment, representing a 17% increase year-over-year, while DMED contributed $14.04 billion to the company’s total quarterly revenue, marking a 3% jump. Analysts and investors were told by Iger that Disney would meet or surpass the $5.5 billion in savings it aims to achieve under its massive restructuring, which includes making it have three segments and cutting its workforce by about 7,000.