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Written by: Susannah Streeter | Hargreaves Lansdow
- The holiday hit Moana 2 takes $1 billion in box office earnings for Disney.
- The 'House of Mouse' exceeds expectations for both profit and revenue.
- Revenue for the quarter rose 5% to $24.69 billion, slightly ahead of analysts' projections of $24.62 billion.
- The entertainment unit saw operating income nearly doubling to $1.7 billion.
- Subscriber numbers for Disney+ fall, as expected, but revenues for the streaming services increase 9%.
Disney has turned in the fairytale performance that investors had been hoping for, with earnings beating consensus forecasts. Moana 2 sprinkled magic on the quarterly numbers, with the film hitting the coveted $1 billion milestone in takings. It shows that the ‘House of Mouse’ is still a powerful force to be reckoned with when it comes to delivering blockbuster hits, which then feeds into its mine of content to fuel other parts of the empire – from parks to cruises. Operating income at Disney's Entertainment unit, which includes film, television and streaming, increased to $1.7 billion in the quarter and were given a big boost by the holiday hit. Hurricanes were the ogre in the mix, denting revenues at the theme park business. There is set to be heightened competition to come as well in this part of the Disney Kingdom, with the arrival of Universal’s Epic Universe parks.
There may be a smidge of disappointment in the slight drop in subscriber numbers for the quarter, but this was forecast and overall, the streaming business is still managing to offset the ongoing decline in linear TV. Netflix will remain a powerful foe, but Disney’s bumper back catalogue is still a major pull and new content keeps its streaming offering strong.
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