Revenue Gains for Disney in Q4

The Walt Disney Company’s fourth-quarter revenues rose 4 percent to $23.2 billion, emerging from the year-ago loss of $460 million to deliver a net profit of $2.6 billion.

“Our performance in Q3 demonstrates the progress we’ve made against our four strategic priorities across our creative studios, streaming, sports and experiences businesses,” said Robert A. Iger, CEO. “This was a strong quarter for Disney, driven by excellent results in our entertainment segment both at the box office and in DTC, as we achieved profitability across our combined streaming businesses for the first time and a quarter ahead of our previous guidance. Despite softer third-quarter performance in our experiences segment, adjusted EPS for the company was up 35 percent, and with our complementary and balanced portfolio of businesses, we are confident in our ability to continue driving earnings growth through our collection of unique and powerful assets.”

The entertainment segment saw revenues rise by 4 percent to $10.6 billion, with an operating income that surged to $1.2 billion. The linear networks fell by 7 percent to $2.7 billion. Direct-to-consumer gained 15 percent to $5.8 billion, with its operating loss down to $19 million. The company reported a total of 118.3 million Disney+ customers (54.8 million in the U.S. and Canada and 63.5 million internationally) and 35.5 million Disney+ Hotstar subs. Hulu reached a total of 51.1 million. Content sales and licensing revenues were down 4 percent to $2.1 billion.

Sports revenues increased by 5 percent to $4.6 billion, but the segment saw operating income slip by 6 percent to $802 million.

Experiences revenues inched up to $8.4 billion, with operating income falling by 3 percent to $2.2 billion.