{"id":1455976,"date":"2024-02-07T21:22:37","date_gmt":"2024-02-08T02:22:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/?p=1455976"},"modified":"2024-02-07T21:22:37","modified_gmt":"2024-02-08T02:22:37","slug":"disney-shares-soar-despite-top-line-subscriber-growth-disappointment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/disney-shares-soar-despite-top-line-subscriber-growth-disappointment\/1455976\/","title":{"rendered":"Disney Shares Soar Despite Top-Line & Subscriber Growth Disappointment"},"content":{"rendered":"

Disney Shares Soar Despite Top-Line & Subscriber Growth Disappointment<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

Disney disappointed top-line <\/strong>with $23.5 billion in revenue for the December quarter, flat from the year-ago quarter but below the $23.8 billion\u00a0consensus.<\/p>\n

*DISNEY 1Q SPORTS REV. $4.84B, EST. $4.62B<\/p>\n

*DISNEY 1Q ENTERTAINMENT REV. $9.98B, EST. $10.52B<\/p>\n

*DISNEY 1Q EXPERIENCES REV. $9.13B, EST. $9.04B<\/p>\n

Subscribers also disappointed.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The number of domestic Disney+ subscribers fell to 46.1 million, likely the result of price increases, but the service lost fewer subscribers than Wall Street analysts had predicted. However, global subscribers to Disney+ (including its Hotstar service in India) also dropped to 149.6 million, from 150.2 million a year earlier (well below the 151.2 million expected).<\/p>\n

“We continue to expect to reach profitability at our combined streaming businesses in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2024, and are making tremendous progress in this area”<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Does the trend in these charts look like they’re about to hockey-stick? Disney sees 5.5-6 million additional subs in Q2.<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

But we note Disney+ revenue rose 15% but it’s still losing money…<\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

Lots of cost-cutting saved EPS (which beat at $1.22 vs 99c exp) :<\/p>\n

\u201cOur strong performance this past quarter demonstrates we have turned the corner and entered a new era for our Company, focused on fortifying ESPN for the future, building streaming into a profitable growth business, reinvigorating our film studios, and turbocharging growth in our parks and experiences,\u201d CEO Robert Iger said.<\/em><\/p>\n

But, what is driving shares higher is its forecast for FY adjusted EPS of $4.60 (well above the $4.27 consensus), and news of buybacks and a dividend boost…<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0In February 2024, the Board of Directors approved a new share repurchase program effective February 7, 2024; we plan to target $3 billion in repurchases in fiscal 2024. <\/em><\/p>\n

The Board also declared on February 7, 2024 a cash dividend of $0.45 per share – an increase of 50% versus the last dividend paid in January – payable July 25, 2024 to shareholders of record at the close of business on July 8, 2024.<\/em><\/p>\n

…and massive layoffs<\/span><\/p>\n

“We are achieving significant cost reductions across our businesses, as evidenced by the realization of over $500 million in SG&A and other operating expense savings”<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

Which has sent the stock soaring after hours, up to one-year highs…<\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

Which appears based heavily on cost-cutting (Disney may top $7.5 billion in costs cuts), and on the news that Disney announced late Tuesday of its ESPN network striking a deal with rivals Fox Corp and Warner Bros. Discovery to launch a sports-focused streaming service later this year.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Additionally, investors seem excited by news that Disney will invest $1.5 billion in Fortnite maker Epic Games.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cThe Walt Disney Company and Epic Games will collaborate on an all-new games and entertainment universe that will further expand the reach of beloved Disney stories and experiences,\u201d a Disney representative wrote in a news release. \u201cDisney will also invest $1.5 billion to acquire an equity stake in Epic Games alongside the multiyear project. The transaction is subject to customary closing conditions, including regulatory approvals.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

So, to clarify – the streaming business is still losing money (even as revenues rise) and is now actually losing subscribers (and traffic is down in Disney World). But thanks to massive layoffs and a buyback and divi boost – and hopes and dreams of a deal on sports and gaming, everything is awesome for Iger in the mouse house.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Tyler Durden<\/a><\/span>
\nWed, 02\/07\/2024 – 16:22<\/span><\/p>\n

\u200bRead More<\/a>\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Disney Shares Soar Despite Top-Line & Subscriber Growth Disappointment Disney disappointed top-line with $23.5 billion in revenue for the December quarter, flat from the year-ago…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1455976","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","wpcat-1-id"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pbimBl-66Lu","jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1455976","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1455976"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1455976\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1455976"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1455976"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1455976"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}