Disney posts mixed results for quarter plagued by streaming woes, restructuring costs
Disney posted mixed results for the fiscal third-quarter despite ongoing streaming woes and massive restructuring costs from pulling content from its platforms.
Subscriber losses continued over the last three months, with the company reporting 146.1 million Disney+ subscribers during the most recent quarter, a 7.4% decrease from the previous quarter. Wall Street had expected Disney would report a smaller loss of 151.1 million subscribers, according to estimates from StreetAccount.
The majority of subscriber losses came from Disney+ Hotstar, where the company saw a 24% drop in users after it lost out on the rights to Indian Premier League matches.
The company recorded $2.65 billion in one-time charges and impairments, dragging the company to a rare quarterly loss. The majority of those charges were related to what Disney called “content impairments” related to pulling content of its streaming platforms and ending third-party licensing agreements.
Here are the results:
EPS: $1.03 per share adjusted, versus 95 cents per share expected, according to a Refinitiv consensus survey
Revenue: $22.33 billion, versus $22.5 billion expected, according to Refinitiv
Disney+ total subscriptions: 146.1 million, versus 151.1 million expected, according to StreetAccount
Disney posted a net loss of $460 million, or a loss of 25 cents per share, during the quarter, down from a net income of $1.41 billion, or 77 cents per share, during the year ago period. On an adjusted basis, the company earned $1.03 per share.
Revenue increased 4% to $22.33 billion, just short of Wall Street estimates of $22.5 billion.
One bright spot for the company was its parks, experiences and products division, which saw a 13% increase in revenue to $8.3 billion during the quarter. Disney saw strength at its international parks during the quarter, while domestic parks, particularly Walt Disney World in Florida, saw a slowdown in attendance and hotel room purchases.
Similar slowdowns were seen by Comcast’s Universal theme parks in Florida.
Ahead of Disney’s earnings call, investors are looking for more clarity on how Iger plans to fix Disney’s TV business and juggle the decline of subscribers at Disney+.
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Disclosure: Comcast is the parent company of NBCUniversal and CNBC.