Walt Disney Co’s theme parks lifted quarterly earnings past Wall Street targets on Wednesday, helping offset big investments to support the media and entertainment company’s bid to draw audiences to streaming media., the end of a decade-long superhero series with $2.2 billion in box office sales worldwide, will stream exclusively on Disney+ starting Dec. 11, the company announced.Growth at Disney parks in the United States boosted results above analyst expectations.
Its biggest streaming bet, the family-oriented Disney+, is set to launch in November. The company told analysts in April that it expects Disney+ to achieve profitability in fiscal 2024. The just-ended quarter reflected the purchase of film and TV assets from 21st Century Fox, which brought Disney more content for its streaming future.Media networks, a division that includes ESPN and ABC, reported $2.2 billion in operating income for the quarter.In the theme park unit, net income hit $1.5 billion as more visitors showed up at Walt Disney World in Florida and at Hong Kong Disneyland, and occupied hotel nights increased.
“Increased ticket prices haven’t put visitors off, and hotels continue to be a major driver of additional spending,” said Nicholas Hyett, equity analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown. “It’s easy to get caught up in the hype surrounding new films … but it’s the less glamorous Media Networks and Parks that pay the lion’s share of the bills.”, which was a global hit but did not reach the level ofData UpdateDue to technical reasons, we have temporarily removed commenting from our articles.