Disney+ Reports Blockbuster Quarter With Record-Breaking Growth

Disney is having a very strong year, especially with its streaming business. In its latest earnings report on Wednesday, the company shared that streaming revenue went up by 6% and made a profit of $346 million during the three months ending June 28.

The real boost for Disney came from its theme parks and related businesses in the U.S. Domestic parks and Disney Cruise Line helped the company beat Wall Street’s profit expectations for the quarter. While its TV networks in the U.S. saw a drop in performance, the parks made up for it.

By the end of June, Disney said its combined Disney+ and Hulu subscribers reached 183 million, which is 2.6 million more than the previous quarter. Core Disney+ subscribers hit 128 million, an increase of 1.8 million.

Hulu subscribers grew to 55.5 million, adding 800,000 new customers. Back in May, Disney had said it only expected a “modest increase” for Disney+ subscribers during this quarter, so the growth was better than they predicted.

Looking ahead to the July-September period, Disney thinks Disney+ and Hulu together will grow by more than 10 million subscribers. This is expected to happen because of their expanded deal with Charter.

Revenue for Disney’s parks and experiences segment went up 8% to $9.1 billion, thanks mostly to strong business at U.S. theme parks and more activity at Disney Cruise Line.

On the TV side, Disney’s domestic linear networks, which include ABC, saw revenue fall 4% to $2.1 billion, and operating income drop 14% to $587 million. International TV networks had an even bigger hit, with revenue falling 58% after Disney completed its Star India deal.

At ESPN, revenue was up slightly by 1% to $4.3 billion, but profits fell 7%. The drop came from higher costs for NBA and college sports rights and the fact that this year they didn’t air the NHL Stanley Cup Finals.

However, ESPN’s future looks promising. On Tuesday, Disney announced the NFL is taking a 10% stake in ESPN. The sports network will also gain control of NFL Network, NFL RedZone, and get three NFL games that previously aired only on the league’s own channel.

Disney’s movie and content sales business saw revenue rise 7% to $2.3 billion. A big help came from the live-action Lilo & Stitch, though weaker performances from Thunderbolts and Elio compared to last year’s hit Inside Out 2 pulled numbers down a bit.

Overall, Disney beat Wall Street expectations with adjusted earnings of $1.61 per share on $23.7 billion in revenue, which is up 2% from last year.

CEO Bob Iger said, “We are pleased with our creative success and financial performance in Q3 as we continue to execute across our strategic priorities… we’re not done building, and we are excited for Disney’s future.”

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