shares were rising in late trading Wednesday after the entertainment giant posted quarterly earnings that edged ahead of Wall Street’s estimates.
Results for the fiscal fourth quarter ended Sept. 30 included better-than-expected subscriber growth for its Disney+ streaming service.
The stock was up as much as 4% after the report.
Disney posted revenue for the quarter of $21.2 billion, up 5% from the year ago quarter, and a little shy of Wall Street’s consensus estimate of $21.4 billion. Profits were 82 cents a share, up from 30 cents a year earlier and above the Street’s 71 cents; earnings from continuing operations were 14 cents, up from 9 cents in the year earlier period.
The company said it added nearly seven million core subscribers to Disney+ in the quarter, increasing the total to 112.6 million, and beating expectations by about three million subscribers.
The company said it now has 5.2 million subscribers for its ad-supported version of Disney+, with more than half of new domestic subscribers choosing the ad tier. Disney also said it doesn’t expect to focus on reducing password sharing until 2025. The company continues to expect streaming to reach profitability in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2024.
Disney posted revenue in its entertainment segment, which includes movies and television, of $9.5 billion, up 2% from a year earlier, and a little shy of Street estimates.
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The sports segment, mostly ESPN, had revenue of $3.9 billion, flat with a year ago and in line with estimates. The experience segment, which includes theme parks, cruises, hotels, and licensed products, had revenue of $8.2 billion, up 13%, and above consensus at $7.8 billion.
The company also said that it remains focused on reducing costs, and now expects its “annualized efficiency target” to $7.5 billion, from $5.5 billion.
“Our results this quarter reflect the significant progress we’ve made over the past year,” CEO Robert Iger said in a statement. “While we still have work to do, these efforts have allowed us to move beyond this period of fixing and begin building our businesses again.”
For the December quarter, Wall Street has been projecting revenue of $24.2 billion, with profits of $1.15 a share .READ MORE