Disney (NYSE: DIS) on Wednesday reported second-quarter earnings and revenue that surpassed expectations of analysts, pushing its shares up 1.2% in after-hours trading session.
The results included 11 days of operating results from streaming service Hulu and Fox’s film and television assets that Disney acquired during the quarter.
California-based Disney attributed the upbeat results to the popularity of its domestic resorts, as well as higher operating income from ESPN.
The company unveiled Disney Plus streaming service during the quarter, which is expected to launch later in 2019 at a cost of $6.99 per month. Disney also released Avengers: Endgame movie, which smashed box-office records during its opening weekend.
DIS Earnings
Disney reported second-quarter profit of $5.45 billion, or $3.56 per share, compared with $2.94 billion, or $1.95 per share, in the same period last year.
Adjusted for one-time items including a $5 billion noncash gain from its acquisition of a controlling stake in streaming service Hulu, earnings came to $1.61 per share compared with $1.84 per share in the second-quarter of the previous year.
Analysts surveyed by Refinitiv had been calling for adjusted earnings of $1.58 per share. Revenue was pegged at $14.92 billion, an increase of 3% from $14.55 billion in the prior-year period.
Analysts were expecting Disney to post revenue of $14.36 billion in the quarter, according to figures compiled by Refinitiv. Disney’s direct-to-consumer segment brought in revenue of $955 million in the quarter, up 15% from the earlier-year period.
Disney CEO Comments
“We’re very pleased with our Q2 results and thrilled with the record-breaking success of Avengers: Endgame, which is now the second-highest grossing film of all time and will stream exclusively on Disney+ starting December 11th,” commented Robert A. Iger, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, The Walt Disney Company.
“The positive response to our direct-to-consumer strategy has been gratifying, and the integration of the businesses we acquired from 21st Century Fox only increases our confidence in our ability to leverage decades of iconic storytelling and the powerful creative engines across the entire company to deliver an extraordinary value proposition to consumers,” Iger added.
Disney Company Profile
Walt Disney owns the rights to some of the most globally recognized characters, from Mickey Mouse to Luke Skywalker. These characters and others are featured in several Disney theme parks around the world.
Disney makes live-action and animated films under studios such as Pixar, Marvel, and Lucasfilm, and also operates media networks including ESPN and several TV production studios. Disney recently reorganized into four segments with one new segment, direct-to-consumer and international.
The new segment includes the two announced OTT offerings, ESPN+, and the Disney SVOD service. The plan also combines two current segments, parks & resorts and consumer products, into one. The media networks group contains the U.S. cable channels and ABC. The studio segment holds the movie production assets.