As Bob Iger nears the end of his four-year contract at The Walt Disney Company (DIS), the media mogul is on track to leave the company healthy when he passes the CEO baton to his successor in 2026. box office hits and momentum across its streaming division, Disney today (Nov. 14) reported a 74 percent jump in revenue to $460 million in the July to September quarter. “As I reflect on the two years since I returned to the company, I'm proud of how far we've come,” Iger said on the earnings call, adding that he believes the company “can continue to drive healthy growth.” except this year.”
Iger praised Disney's streaming businesses (Disney+, Hulu and ESPN+), which turned a profit for the second quarter in a row. The division's profit rose to $321 million, a sharp contrast to the $387 million loss it experienced in the same period last year and up from the $47 million profit it saw in the previous quarter.
The company ended the quarter with 4 percent more Disney+ Core subscribers and 5 percent more Hulu subscribers; The platforms now have 112.7 million and 52 million users, respectively. In the US, about 60 percent of new subscribers choose the more affordable Disney + category, according to Iger, who told analysts that the category accounts for 37 percent of subscribers in the country and 30 percent worldwide. This information is rarely disclosed by Disney and seems to have been an accidental slip for the CEO, who later said: “I don't know if I should have disclosed those AVODs. [Advertising-based Video on Demand] numbers.”
Disney's streaming businesses helped boost revenue in its entertainment division this quarter, which rose 14 percent year over year to $10.8 billion. The company reported $22.6 billion in revenue for the quarter, representing a 6 percent increase in line with Wall Street expectations. About $4 billion came from the sports sector, which was down year-over-year, while Disney's experience segment saw revenue rise 1 percent to $8.2 billion. Investors received positive results, as evidenced by the increase in the company's shares today by more than 7 percent.
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Also contributing to Disney's success this quarter were box office hits Inside Out 2 again Deadpool and Wolverinethe company said it was a major contributor to the $316 million in operating income reported by its studio business. Thanks to consumer touchpoints such as streaming, parks and resorts, and cruise ships, a successful Disney movie today drives “more revenue than ever before,” Iger said, adding that Disney will end the year with other expected hits such as Moana 2 again Mufasa: King King. “This multiplier effect means that the economics of our movie business system have never been stronger.”
Iger, who led Disney between 2005 and 2020, will retire from his second term as CEO in 2022 and will be replaced by a candidate to be named two years later. While Disney may not yet have a CEO in place, the company has optimistic growth forecasts for years to come. Despite expecting an additional $875 million in profit from its streaming division next fiscal year, Disney is forecasting double-digit adjusted earnings per share growth for fiscal 2026 and 2027.
One thing not included in the company's future plans is the acquisition of additional media assets. Although media executives such as Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) David Zaslav has already expressed the hope that the incoming Trump administration will better accept the integration of the media, Iger told analysts today that the company is satisfied with the content it has received after acquiring 20th Century. Fox goods in 2017. “We are, in many ways, already integrated,” he said. “We don't need any more supplies right now.”
