(Removes reference to ESPN+ in paragraph 14)
By Dawn Chmielewski and Lisa Richwine
(Reuters) – Walt Disney sharply outperformed Wall Street’s quarterly earnings estimates on Wednesday, with results buoyed by the strong holiday box office performance of animated sequel «Moana 2» and higher profits at the company’s streaming business.
The strength in entertainment helped offset a decline at Disney’s domestic theme parks, which were impacted by hurricanes Helene and Milton in Florida. The parks-led Experiences group also incurred about $75 million in expenses associated with the December launch of the Disney Treasure cruise ship.
Disney reported a 44% jump in adjusted per-share earnings of $1.76 for the October-December quarter, exceeding the $1.45 per-share earnings consensus estimate of 24 analysts surveyed by LSEG.
Revenue for the quarter rose 5% to $24.69 billion, slightly ahead of analysts’ projections of $24.62 billion. Operating income rose 31% from a year earlier to $5.1 billion.
Shares of the company rose 1.5% in premarket trading.
«Overall, this quarter proved to be a strong start to the fiscal year, and we remain confident in our strategy for continued growth,» Disney CEO Bob Iger said in a statement.
Disney forecast «high single digit» adjusted earnings-per-share growth in fiscal 2025 compared with the prior year and an increase of approximately $875 million in operating income at the streaming entertainment unit.
The company said it would incur $50 million in costs associated with exiting its Venu Sports joint venture with Warner Bros Discovery and Fox. The media companies abandoned their plans for a sports streaming service in January, after it ran into substantial legal opposition.
Operating income at Disney’s Entertainment unit, which includes film, television and streaming, increased to $1.7 billion in the quarter, nearly double the results from a year earlier, thanks in part to the strong performance of «Moana 2.»
The animated sequel topped $1 billion in box office proceeds over the Martin Luther King Jr. Day weekend in January, becoming the fourth Walt Disney Animation film to reach that financial milestone.
«Disney has turned in the fairytale performance investors had been hoping for … It shows that Disney is still a powerful force to be reckoned with when it comes to delivering blockbuster hits,» said Susannah Streeter, head of money and markets at Hargreaves Lansdown.
Disney’s traditional television business continued to erode. Operating income at so-called linear networks fell 11% to $1.1 billion.
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