Disney stock spikes on big earnings beat
- Sara Fischer, author of Axios Media Trends
Photo by Liao Pan/China News Service via Getty Images
Disney's stock was up roughly 4% in after-hours trading after the company posted strong top and bottom line revenue gains.
Why it matters: Investors were bullish heading into Disney's earnings report, given that the company was finally able to open its Disneyland last quarter. The company also debuted two of its biggest blockbusters on its streaming service Disney+ (in conjunction with theater releases), boosting subscriber numbers and beating Wall Street estimates.
Details: Disney's subscriber beat was notable given that other streamers, like Netflix, reported subscriber slowdowns.
- Disney has long argued that its stock should trade in response to its streaming subscriber growth, akin to Netflix.
- That narrative helped to boost its stock last year, despite pandemic-related headwinds to its parks and resorts and theaters businesses.
Yes, but: While eased pandemic restrictions have helped Disney's parks and resorts business return to profit, the company warned that the pandemic's impact may still have an effect in the future.
- In a note to investors, Disney said, "[although most film and television production resumed beginning in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2020, we continue to see disruption of film and television production, as well as live sports events, depending on local circumstances."
By the numbers via CNBC:
- Earnings per share: 80 cents vs 55 cents expected in a Refinitiv survey of analysts
- Revenue: $17.02 billion vs $16.76 billion expected in the survey
- Subscribers: 116 vs. 114.5 expected by StreetAccount
- Disney+: 116 million
- ESPN+: 14.9 million
- Total Hulu: 42.8 million
- Hulu SVOD only: 39.1 million
- Hulu Live TV + SVOD: 3.7 million
Go deeper ... Disney earnings