Disney share prices fell on Tuesday following the release of the media titan's quarterly earnings report. The company's stocks were trading more than 2.5 percent up in the afternoon but fell sharply during after-hours trading.
According to the report, earnings per share fell from $1.87 from the third quarter of last year to $1.35, while analysts had expected a much lighter tumble to $1.75. Revenues also underperformed, reaching just $20.25 billion instead of the $21.47 billion anticipated by analysts.
The earnings report comes amid major shifts in Disney's business. This is the first quarter that takes into account the company's acquisition of 21st Century Fox, which was completed in late March. It also comes as Disney ($DIS) ramps up for the launch of Disney+, a streaming network that's meant to compete with Netflix.
Disney's studio entertainment — which handles its blockbuster films like "Aladdin" and "Avengers: Endgame" — saw its income grow to $3.8 billion this quarter.
While the company's direct-to-consumer business also surged, Disney attributed its operating losses to increased investment into ESPN+, a live sports streaming service, and the launch of the Disney streaming network, among other factors.
The company is hoping that latter platform will create a new revenue stream for its widely-popular franchises.
"This year, with the strongest year in the box office, in the company's history, I think that is by design," Andrew Freedman, managing director at Hedgeye Risk Management, told Cheddar. "All these big movies that are getting released are going to be used to drive acquisition for their Disney+ service next year."
He added that his company has maintained its expectation that Disney will reach 20 million subscribers in its first 12 months.
Disney also reported that its parks and experiences revenues grew by 7 percent, to $6.6 billion, but that area of its business does have vulnerabilities.
"We've been in this rip-roaring bull market for 10 years," said Freedman. "Make no mistake, Disney is consumer-mediated. It's a cyclical company. The theme parks have been driving a lot of the operating business and a lot of the upside for them. So to any extent you see a weakness in the consumer, it's going to hurt Disney."
Joe Cecela, Dream Exchange CEO, explains how they are aiming to form the first minority-controlled company to operate an exchange in U.S. history. Watch!
A Michigan judge is putting sponges in the hands of shoplifters and ordering them to wash cars in a Walmart parking lot when spring weather arrives. Genesee County Judge Jeffrey Clothier hopes the unusual form of community service discourages people from stealing from Walmart. The judge also wants to reward shoppers with free car washes. Clothier says he began ordering “Walmart wash” sentences this week for shoplifting at the store in Grand Blanc Township. He believes 75 to 100 people eventually will be ordered to wash cars this spring. Clothier says he will be washing cars alongside them when the time comes.
The State Department had been in talks with Elon Musk’s Tesla company to buy armored electric vehicles, but the plans have been put on hold by the Trump administration after reports emerged about a potential $400 million purchase. A State Department spokesperson said the electric car company owned by Musk was the only one that expressed interest back in May 2024. The deal with Tesla was only in its planning phases but it was forecast to be the largest contract of the year. It shows how some of his wealth has come and was still expected to come from taxpayers.
At 100 years old, the Goodyear Blimp is an ageless star in the sky. The 246-foot-long airship will be in the background of the Daytona 500 — flying roughly 1,500 feet above Daytona International Speedway, actually — to celebrate its greatest anniversary tour. Even though remote camera technologies are improving regularly and changing the landscape of aerial footage, the blimp continues to carve out a niche. At Daytona, with the usual 40-car field racing around a 2½-mile superspeedway, views from the blimp aptly provide the scope of the event.
