*By Chloe Aiello*
Shares of Walt Disney jumped in after-hours trading after the entertainment giant reported record earnings and revenue for its latest fiscal year.
For the quarter ending Sept. 29, Disney ($DIS) reported earnings per share of $1.48 on revenue of $14.31 billion, beating the $1.34 earnings per share on $13.73 billion in revenue analysts were expecting.
Revenue from its Parks and Resorts division rose 9 percent from a year ago to $5.1 billion. Its studio entertainment revenue grew 50 percent to $2.15 billion, helped by strong showings from films like "Incredibles 2," "Ant-Man and the Wasp."
Revenue from its all-important media networks rose 9 percent to nearly $6 billion beating Street expectations, though growth at cable networks like ESPN was up just 5 percent.
The results come as Disney tests the waters for over-the-top offerings to combat cord-cutters turning away from cable. The company launched its ESPN+ streaming option in April and, on its conference call, said the service now has over a million users. It also plans to launch its broader Disney+ service in the U.S. late next year.
Disney hopes its recent purchase of 21st Century Fox ($FOXA) will help supplement its offerings, both for its traditional and OTT offerings. The $71 billion deal got approval from EU regulators this week, as long as Disney sells some of its European TV assets.
“We remain focused on the successful completion and integration of our 21st Century Fox acquisition and the further development of our direct-to-consumer business, including the highly anticipated launch of our Disney-branded streaming service late next year," Disney Chairman and CEO Bob Iger said in a statement.
An independent watchdog within the IRS reports that while taxpayer services have vastly improved, the agency is still too slow to resolve identity theft cases. And National Taxpayer Advocate Erin Collins says those delays are “unconscionable.” Erin M. Collins said in the report released Wednesday that overall the 2024 filing season went smoothly, though IRS delays in resolving identity theft victim assistance cases are worsening. It took nearly 19 months to resolve self-reported identity theft cases as of January, and Wednesday's report states that now it takes 22 months to resolve these cases.
Amazon.com Inc. surpassed $2 trillion in market value for the first time in afternoon trading on Wednesday. The push higher for Amazon’s stock market valuation comes a little more than a week after Nvidia hit $3 trillion and briefly became the most valuable company on Wall Street. Nvidia’s chips are used to power many AI application and its valuation has soared as a result. Amazon has also been making big investments in AI as global interest has grown in the technology. Most of the company’s focus has been on business-focused products.
Climate change doesn’t just mean more extreme weather – it also leads to billions of dollars in lost productivity, tourism, and stresses infrastructure.
