Walt Disney Latest Earnings Results
Investors were pleased with Disney's latest earnings report. The Parks division's revenue rose by more than 100% year over year in the most recent quarter. If that wasn't astounding enough, the Parks section turned a $400 million deficit into a roughly $1.8 billion profit. It's worth noting that these figures were released despite park closures in many locations throughout the globe, including Hong Kong and Shanghai. A quarter in which every park is back to full capacity has us eager to see what Disney can do.
The parks are becoming better and better for repeat visitors as Disney continues to invest in them. During the third quarter, the corporation invested almost $2 billion in parks and assets that had been put on hold due to COVID.
During the last year, Disney+'s worldwide subscriber base increased by 33%, bringing its total to approximately 140 million. It's possible that ESPN+'s presence as part of a package with Disney+ contributed to the surprising 62% surge in subscribers. There is a lot to like about both the Disney portions, in general.
However, despite the tremendous growth of direct-to-consumer streaming services, they continue to lose money. As a result, the losses continue to mount. Almost $900 million was lost in Disney's direct-to-consumer business in the last quarter. While investors anticipate losses at this point in the cycle as Disney continues to spend and develop these services, it is hoped they deliver positive operating income at some time in the near future.
The upside for Disney's stock is encouraging. There is no other firm that can develop so many different income streams from a single piece of content like this one.