by Ray Keating
News
DisneyBizJournal.com
November 8, 2023
The Walt Disney Company published its fourth quarter and full year earnings for 2023 today, and the company generally beat market expectations. It also was reiterated on the call that management would recommend to the board that a Disney dividend should be established, or re-established, by the end of the calendar year.
The company’s diluted earnings per share, excluding certain items, for the quarter increased to $0.82 from the prior-year quarter’s $0.30, and for the entire year, diluted EPS, excluding certain items, came in at $3.76 in 2023 versus $3.53 in the prior year.
For good measure, revenues were up by 5 percent in the quarter, and by 7 percent for the year, compared to the same previous periods.
Also, Disney+ added 6.9 million core subscribers in the fourth quarter, which far exceeded market expectations. In addition, streaming losses fell dramatically – from $1.47 billion a year earlier to $387 million in this quarter – with profitability on target for the fourth quarter of 2024.
Disney+ core subscribers came in at 112.6 million, with total Hulu subscribers at 48.5 million and ESPN+ at 26.0 million – both up slightly.
The Experiences division – parks and consumer products – saw a 13 percent increase in revenues and a 31 percent increase in operating income in the quarter.
Disney CEO Bob Iger noted the benefits of the company’s new structure, and spoke of “restored creativity.” He also emphasized that the company was moving from “fixing” matters due to past decisions and industry changes to “building” in four key areas.
The first path for building is streaming profitability, pointing out that 50 percent of new Disney+ subscribers chose the advertising option, and that a unified Disney+ and Hulu app would be set up in beta form in December and officially launched in early spring 2024.
The second path is making ESPN the preeminent sports platform, including via new strategic partnerships. Iger emphasized that ESPN was experiencing solid revenue and income growth.
The third is a kind of refocus of the movie studio, namely, a move away from quantity and to a focus on quality. Iger, while noting successes, did acknowledge a slip in quality.
And fourth, Iger spoke of “turbo-charging” growth in experiences, that is, parks, cruise lines, etc. Previously announced investments were noted, as were improved guest experience ratings.
In after-hours trading, at the end of the Disney earnings call, the stock price was up by better than three percent.
__________
Ray Keating is the editor, publisher and economist for DisneyBizJournal.com; and author of the Pastor Stephen Grant thrillers and mysteries, the Alliance of Saint Michael novels, and assorted nonfiction books. Have Ray Keating speak your group, business, school, church, or organization. Email him at raykeating@keatingreports.com.
The views expressed here are his own – after all, no one else should be held responsible for this stuff, right?
Support the Daily Dose of Disney with Ray Keating Podcast at https://www.buzzsprout.com/1724143. Subscribe at the $8 or $10 level, and get The Disney Planner: The TO DO List Solution by Ray Keating. Remain a supporter and you'll get a FREE BOOK by Ray Keating every six months going forward. Thanks!
Consider books by Ray Keating, including…
• The Pastor Stephen Grant thrillers and mysteries. There are 18 books in the series now.
• Order The Weekly Economist II: 52 More Quick Reads to Help You Think Like an Economist. Kindle editions and paperbacks via Amazon here and signed books here. And don’t forget the first book in this growing series, i.e., The Weekly Economist: 52 Quick Reads to Help You Think Like an Economist at Amazon.com.
• Cathedral: An Alliance of Saint Michael Novel is at Amazon.
• The Lutheran Planner: The TO DO List Solution combines a simple, powerful system for getting things done with encouragement, inspiration and consolation from the Christian faith.
• Signed editions of Ray’s books are at www.RayKeatingOnline.com.
Also, check out Ray’s podcasts – the Daily Dose of Disney, Free Enterprise in Three Minutes, and the PRESS CLUB C Podcast.
No comments:
Post a Comment