Josh D'Amaro, president of Disney Experiences, speaks during the grand opening ceremony for Shanghai Disney Resort's Zootopia-themed land on December 19, 2023 in Shanghai, China.
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disney will release its fiscal second-quarter results before the call on Wednesday. It will be the first earnings call led by Josh D'Amaro since the former parks executive took over as CEO in March.
Under the new CEO, who replaced Bob Iger after his two stints at the helm totaling roughly 20 years, Disney has already gone through a round of layoffs and faced growing political pressure over its late-night TV host Jimmy Kimmel.
“This earnings call marks the first real review of Disney under D'Amaro's leadership, and a test of how its theme park roots translate, or don't, to the rest of the business,” said Mike Proulx, research director at Forrester. “Streaming is still the main event, but the market is consolidating. A possible combination of Paramount+ and HBO Max would reset Disney+'s competitive calculus.”
Streaming and television results have devoured much of the attention of media investors overall as the industry faces significant upheaval and consolidation.
Here's how Disney is expected to perform in its fiscal second quarter, according to LSEG:
- Earnings per share: $1.49 expected
- Revenue: $24.78 billion expected
Last quarter, Disney stopped reporting some details for the entertainment segment, which is made up of its traditional television, streaming and film releases, including the breakdown of revenue and operating income for each segment. The company also stopped reporting quarterly streaming subscriber numbers.
Consumers' shift from pay-TV packages to streaming has weighed on media companies for years, with both distribution and advertising profits continually declining. Still, traditional television remains a source of income and investors have been interested in seeing how and when streaming can offset the declines.
Updates on the status of Disney's theme parks, which are part of its experiences unit and the company's profit engine, will also be of particular interest on Wednesday.
In February, Disney provided second-quarter guidance that called for “modest” growth in operating income for the experiences division due to headwinds from international visitation to national parks. That forecast was issued before the United States and Israel launched attacks on Iran about two months ago, causing oil prices to spike.
This story is developing. Please check back for updates.
