Disney parks thrive in second quarter and it adds 1.4 million new streaming subscribers

By MICHELLE CHAPMAN Associated Press Business Writer Disney posted solid profits and revenue in the second quarter as its domestic theme parks thrived and the company added well over a million subscribers to its streaming institution The company also boosted its profit expectations for the year For the three months ended March Disney earned billion or per share The Burbank California company lost million or a penny per share a year earlier Removing one time charges or benefits earnings were per share easily topping the that Wall Street was expecting according to a survey by Zacks Stake Research Revenue rose to billion also topping projections Revenue for Disney Entertainment it s movie studios and streaming climbed while revenue for the Experiences division its parks increased New box office hits include Moana and Mufasa The Lion King Its latest film Thunderbolts asterisk is presently s itting atop the box office CEO Bob Iger and Chief Financial Officer Hugh Johnston revealed in prepared remarks that they re confident in this year s movie slate which includes Lilo Stitch The Fantastic Four First Strategies and Avatar Fire and Ash Disney however faces probable ramifications from the arrangement war launched by President Donald Trump Other U S corporations have noted blowback by consumers in overseas markets and on Monday Trump opened a new salvo in his tariff war targeting films made outside the U S In a post Sunday night on his Truth Social platform Trump stated he has authorized the Department of Commerce and the Office of the U S Agreement Representative to slap a tariff on any and all Movies coming into our Country that are produced in Foreign Lands Disney has come under certain scrutiny from Trump s administration for other issues In March the head of the Federal Communications Commission explained that he was opening an scrutiny into Disney and its ABC television setup to see whether they are promoting invidious forms of DEI discrimination FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr disclosed the probe in a letter to Iger The company disclosed at the time that it was reviewing the letter and was looking forward to answering the commission s questions As of now Disney s streaming business continues to grow Its direct-to-consumer business which includes Disney and Hulu posted quarterly operating income of million compared with million in the prior-year period Revenue increased The Disney streaming operation had a increase in paid subscribers domestically which includes the U S and Canada There was a rise internationally which excludes Disney HotStar Total paid subscribers for Disney edged up in the quarter to surprising million subscribers from million in the first quarter The Walt Disney Co previously commented that it expected a modest decline in Disney subscribers in the second quarter when compared with the first three months of the year Disney and Hulu subscriptions totaled million up million from the first quarter Iger and Johnston declared that Disney has benefited from success at the box office which becomes content for its growing streaming arrangement Moana has more than million hours streaming since hitting Disney on March making it the biggest Walt Disney Animation Studios premiere on the platform since Encanto he declared The first Moana film remains the largest part watched movie on Disney with more than billion hours streamed The Moana franchise also drives traffic at Disney s theme parks with meet and greets with characters at theme parks and on cruise ships and the Journey of Water at Epcot at Walt Disney World in Orlando Florida The Experiences division which includes Disney s six global theme parks its cruise line merchandise and videogame licensing revealed operating income rose to billion Operating income climbed at domestic parks Operating income dropped for international parks and Experiences due to softness at its Shanghai and Hong Kong theme parks Disney also reported Wednesday that it will build its seventh theme park in Abu Dhabi The waterfront resort will be located on Yas Island and be Disney s seventh theme park The theme park will be built and run by the developer Miral with Disney licensing its intellectual property for the project and providing growth and management services according to a regulatory filing Disney which won t provide any capital will earn royalties based on the project s revenues and will also earn provision fees While Disney continues to pull levers to successfully manage all of the different components of its business it also continues to work on its search for a successor to Iger the face of Disney for the majority of the past two decades Disney created a succession planning committee in but the search began in earnest last year when the company enlisted Morgan Stanley Executive Chairman James Gorman to lead the effort Disney does have chosen time as Iger agreed to a contract extension that keeps him at the company through the end of Disney is looking at internal and external candidates The internal candidates are widely concluded to include the chairman of Disney-owned ESPN Jimmy Pitaro Chairperson of Walt Disney Parks and Resorts Josh D Amaro Disney Entertainment Co-Chairman Alan Bergman and Disney Entertainment Co-Chairman Dana Walden Disney is projecting full-year adjusted earnings of per share which is better than the per share that analysts polled by FactSet are looking for The company s previous guidance was for high-single digit adjusted earnings per share upsurge for fiscal Shares surged more than before the realm open on Wednesday