Disney dips on weaker-than-expected Q4 revenue amid its longest-ever TV blackout
...and you’re watching Disney Channel.
The happiest place on Earth is feeling pretty meh today. Disney’s fiscal fourth-quarter earnings report came out on Thursday, and investors — a variation of Disney adult, you could say — didn’t exactly cheer the results, with shares sliding 3.4% as of 7:24 a.m. ET.
The company reported adjusted earnings per share of $1.11, below last year, but higher than Wall Street estimates of $1.05 per share.
Looking ahead, Disney said it expects streaming profit of $375 million for its quarter ending in December. For the full fiscal year, it expects adjusted profit per share to grow by double digits. Disney said it would double its share buyback target to $7 billion for its 2026 fiscal year.
The entertainment giant also posted:
$22.46 billion in total revenue in its fourth quarter, short of analyst estimates of $22.76 billion (compiled by FactSet) and roughly flat relative to the same period last year.
$3.48 billion in Q4 operating income across its three operating segments (Entertainment, Experiences, and Sports), just shy of Wall Street expectations of $3.51 billion.
$352 million in Q4 streaming profit, up 39% from the same quarter last year. For its full fiscal year, ended September, Disney reported streaming profit of $1.33 billion, more than 9x the year prior.
$10 billion in full-year operating profit for its Experiences unit, which includes parks. Disney’s domestic parks profit grew 9% to $920 million on the quarter.
Across its direct-to-consumer and streaming offerings, the studio reported 218.3 million global subscribers as of the end of September, in line with expectations but down about 8% from last year. That number was likely impacted by the company’s decision toward the end of the quarter to pull Jimmy Kimmel’s late-night talk show off the air for a week. A report from Antenna Research found that roughly 7.1 million subscribers canceled their Disney+ and Hulu subscriptions during that month, far above the three-month average cancellation rate of those services.
Last month, Disney boosted the monthly cost of its flagship streaming service by $3 for the ad-free tier — its fourth price hike in four years. The service now costs 172% more than it did six years ago.
On the linear television side, Disney is embroiled in its longest carriage dispute ever, with YouTube TV. The blackout has been ongoing since October 30, surpassing Disney’s standoff with DirecTV last year for its longest stalemate. Two consecutive weeks of ESPN’s Monday Night Football haven’t been available on the pay-TV provider, which is expected to pass Comcast as the largest US pay-TV service next year.
According to Morgan Stanley, Disney is losing about $4.3 million per day during the dispute, which entered its 14th day on Thursday. The New York Times reported that Disney CEO Bob Iger and Google CEO Sundar Pichai have become more involved in the talks amid pressure from FCC Chair Brendan Carr.
