The Walt Disney Co. turned a profit in its most recent quarter as reopened parks provided a revenue bounce.
Revenue in the parks and products division surged to $4.3 billion from $1.1 billion a year ago, as theme parks closed last year were open for part or all of this year’s quarter. Disney World in Florida has been open since last summer; California’s Disneyland only came back at the end of April.
The effect of the pandemic lingers at the parks, many of which are operating at reduced capacities, the company says. Disney is among the country’s largest employers to require worker vaccinations. It also announced in July that visitors to its U.S. theme parks must again wear masks indoors.
Disney on Thursday reported that its net income was $918 million in the three months through July 3, compared with a loss of $4.72 billion in its fiscal third quarter a year ago. Earnings per share came to 50 cents, while revenue climbed 45% to $17.02 billion.
Analysts polled by FactSet predicted earnings of 55 cents per share on revenue of $16.76 billion. Excluding one-time items, earnings were 80 cents per share. Disney shares jumped more than 5% to $188.72 in after-hours trading.
The company ended the quarter with 116 million Disney+ subscribers, about double the number from a year ago, and nearly 174 million streaming subscribers including Disney+, ESPN+ and Hulu.
Disney+ expects 230 to 260 million subscribers by 2024.
Disney's kid-friendly back catalog and original hit series like Marvel’s “WandaVision” and the Star Wars spinoff “The Mandalorian" have helped drive sign-ups as people stuck at home during the pandemic needed something to do.
The streaming industry leader, Netflix, has had some growing pains this year after 2020′s record-setting subscriber gains and as competition increases.
Marvel’s “Black Widow” came out in July and brought in the biggest domestic box-office haul this year, but Disney's pandemic strategy of releasing it simultaneously on Disney+, for $30 a pop, led to Hollywood drama. Its star, Scarlett Johansson, sued Disney, saying they deprived her of potential earnings from the theater screenings. Her pay is based in part on the film's box office.
Revenue at the media and entertainment distribution division rose 18% to $12.68 billion. Excluding one-time items, earnings were 80 cents per share.
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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.
