- Unsplash/Tyler Nix
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Disney released earnings on Tuesday, and let’s just say it left a lot to be desired. Especially if you desire the success of a cultural icon like Disney. The House of Mouse missed on both earnings and revenue, due in part to the unsurprising piss poor performance of its parks and cruises as the world shelters in place.
It reported 60 cents in earnings per share, missing the 89 cent estimate by Wall Street. It did, however, beat revenue estimates, clocking in at $18.01B, compared to an estimated $17.80B. Disney stocks fell 3% after hours.
We’re NOT going to Disney World!
Disney’s Parks, Experiences and Products division was the source of the pain in the company’s Q2. It reported a 58% drop in operating income for the quarter, compared to last year. The Parks, Experiences and Products did manage to bring in $5.45B in revenue, but that was still down 10% from the year prior. I guess they’re still selling a lot of Pluto collars (that are totally for cosplay and not for anything weird).
Last year, Disney’s parks carried roughly 41.3% of the company’s total revenue during Q2, so you could see how a lack of visitors could hurt its bottom line, and Q3 won’t be much better. In order to stop the bleeding, it furloughed more than 100k workers, cut executive pay, and took a $5B line of credit.
On a brighter note
One of the only lines of business propping Disney up during these less-than-magical times is Disney+. On Tuesday, the Pride of Orlando reported that Disney+ had 54.5M subscribers as of May 4th. I’m sure the “May the 4th be with you” crowd had no effect on the numbers.
That’s a pretty hefty number, considering on March 28th, the company only reported 33.5M subscribers. It’s almost like something happened in March that had people thinking they’d be stuck at home for a while with nothing to do but stream video.
The bottom line…
While Disney+ is still the shiny new toy, it’s not just a little extra D that’s drawing crowds as everyone continues to hunker down at home. Disney-owned Hulu reported a 27% growth in subscribers compared to the same quarter last year, up to 32.1M subscribers from 25.2M last year.
On top of that, believe it or not, a live-sports-less ESPN+ also saw a rise in subscribers, counting 7.9M compared to just 2.2M last year. There’s no telling what another month or two of self-isolation could bring, but you can bet your ass Mickey’s hoping it can make up for the lack of children (and grown-ass people with stunted childhoods ) that normally make up its theme park crowd.
Water Cooler Talking Point(s)
💧 “You can knock Mickey and his global media conglomerate down, but don’t you dare count him out.” (AJ, The Water Coolest HQ)
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