Disney stock jumps 5% as the company reports that its streaming service grew 7.9 million subscribers, while arch-rival Netflix lost viewers
The Walt Disney Company’s shares rose after the company reported strong growth for its Disney+ streaming service.
Disney shares rose as much as 5 percent in extended trading on Wednesday after the company announced it added 7.9 million new Disney+ subscribers, bringing the total to 137.7 million, beating Wall Street estimates surpasses
Disney’s theme park business also continued to rebound strongly from the pandemic lows, despite a chaotic public battle with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, with revenue more than doubling to $6.65 billion.
Though its streaming and theme park businesses saw strong growth, Disney missed quarterly revenue estimates due to a one-time fee it had to pay $1 billion to early terminate rights to movies and TV shows.
Disney stock rose in extended trading on Wednesday after the company announced it added 7.9 million new Disney+ subscribers
Disney World can be seen above. Despite a chaotic public battle with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, Disney’s theme park business continued to bounce back strongly from the pandemic lows
The company’s revenue rose 23 percent to $19.25 billion in the quarter ended April 2, below analysts’ expectations of $20.03 billion, according to data from Refinitiv.
Net income from continuing operations was $470 million, or 26 cents a share, for the quarter, compared to $912 million, or 50 cents a share, a year ago.
CEO Bob Chapek said in a statement that recent financial results “proved once again that we are in a league of our own”.
“As we look forward to Disney’s second century, I am confident that we will continue to transform entertainment by combining extraordinary storytelling with innovative technology to create an even larger, more connected and magical Disney universe for families and fans around the world.” to create the world,” he said.
Disney’s latest earnings report comes as the company grows deeper into the US culture wars.
Disney CEO Bob Chapek said in a statement that recent financial results “proved once again that we’re in a league of our own.”
Last month, Republican Florida Gov. DeSantis called the company “awakened” and waged a public battle to strip Disney World of special tax and zoning rights.
However, the latest financial results only show Disney’s performance through April 2, meaning it doesn’t include the impact of any backlash or boycotts.
It comes a month after arch-rival Netflix posted its first loss of subscribers in more than a decade and announced deeper losses, a clear wealth shift from the boom it enjoyed during the pandemic.
Netflix announced on April 19 that it lost 200,000 subscribers in the first three months of the year and is expected to lose 2 million more in the second quarter. The company’s stock has fallen more than 70 percent since the start of the year.
On Tuesday, it emerged that Netflix had accelerated plans to launch a lower-priced ad-supported subscription plan, leading to some disgruntled customers threatening to terminate their accounts.
Development of the story, more to come.