In the first quarter of 2024, the Walt Disney Company’s fiscal Q2, Disney’s direct-to-consumer business nearly broke even for the first time since Disney+ was born. From April to June, streaming profitability was finally reached.
Disney+ added just 700,000 subscribers during the second calendar quarter of the month, Disney’s fiscal third quarter, according to financial documents released on Wednesday. It had added 6.3 million subs in the previously-reported quarter. Disney+ now has 118.3 million subscribers.
Hulu added 900,000 subs in the quarter.
Disney CEO Bob Iger had previously said DTC will be profitable by the end of September. He beat his own deadline by one quarter. Disney’s “entertainment streaming was profitable” from January to March, Iger said in May. In other words, blame sports.
Wall Street expected Disney earnings of $1.09 per share on $21.14 billion in revenue. The company posted adjusted EPS of $1.39 on $23.2 billion in revenue.
“Inside Out 2” was the big theatrical release in the April-June quarter — hell, it is by far the biggest movie of 2024 to-date — though a significant chunk of ticket sales will show up on the next quarterly earnings report. The sequel to 2015’s “Inside Out” ended up generating more than $1.5 billion at the worldwide box office and its $627 million domestic haul is the best ever for a G/PG-rated movie, not counting inflation.
As a matter of fact, probably the only film that could catch “Inside Out 2” in calendar 2024 is “Deadpool & Wolverine,” the (very) R-rated Marvel (owned by Disney!) movie that is off to a (very) hot start. (Yes, Disney has everything from G to a hard R handled.) The “Deadpool 3” haul will be reflected in Disney’s fiscal Q4’s financials.
May’s “Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes,” a franchise that came to Disney along with 20th in the Fox deal, also performed well in the Wednesday-reported quarter with nearly $400 million in theatrical revenue.
In terms of streaming TV, Star Wars series “The Acolyte” did fine, but not incredible. Acquired kids program “Bluey” continued to kill it for Disney+ and the usual Fox animated series (for grownups) kept Hulu busy.
On Tuesday, Disney announced it would again raise the prices for its streaming services in October. That is becoming its usual timing.
More to come…
