On Wednesday morning, The Walt Disney Company shared its earnings report. Along with announcing strong profits from its Experiences and Entertainment divisions, it announced the building of Disneyland Abu Dhabi. The second quarter earnings beat expectations on both the top and bottom lines. This was driven by a rebound of Disney’s domestic parks business and its streaming services.
Because of these results, Disney raised its full-year profit forecast to $5.75 a share. This is up 16% from fiscal 2024. It is also roughly double its prior guidance for high single-digit growth. Most analysts had predicted that 2025 adjusted earnings per share to come in at $5.44.
After the earnings call, Disney stock jumped over 10% in early trading. This was followed by the announcement of Disneyland Abu Dhabi. This will be Disney’s seventh global resort and its first in the Middle East. This new park and resort will be developed in partnership with Miral. This is a state-backed tourism and real estate firm that is behind many of Abu Dhabi’s current attractions.
Disney CEO Bob Iger said that the project will be “authentically Disney and distinctly Emirati.” He also shared that the resort “will serve as an oasis of extraordinary Disney entertainment for millions and millions of people in this crossroads of the world, connecting travelers from the Middle East and Africa, India, Asia, Europe and beyond.”
On the streaming front, Disney also saw surprising strength. Disney+ added 1.4 million subscribers during the quarter. A poll of analysts by Bloomberg had predicted that the streaming service would lose 1.25 million subscribers. Disney said that it lost 700,000 paying users in Q1. This was a result of recent price hikes for Disney’s streaming service.
Despite price increases and password sharing crackdowns, Disney’s direct-to-consumer streaming unit posted a profit of $336 million. This is up $47 million from a year ago. It is also ahead of analyst expectations. The unit includes Disney+ and Hulu. This marks the fourth straight quarter of profitability for Disney’s streaming unit. Disney is aiming for a profit of $875 million in fiscal 2025.
Disney’s overall revenue of $23.62 billion beat expectations. It had been expected that the company would achieve $23.05 billion in the quarter. This marks a 7% increase from the same period last year.
The adjusted earnings per share came in at $1.45. This is above the $1.20 that was predicted by Bloomberg. This also sees earnings up 20% from one year ago.
