) reported a steeper earnings decline than Wall Street expected on Tuesday as the company poured money into its ambitious plunge into streaming media and began folding in assets purchased from Twenty-First Century Fox.
Excluding certain items, Disney earned $1.35 per share for the quarter that ended in June, below average analyst estimates of $1.75 per share, according to IBES data from Refinitiv. The direct-to-consumer and international unit reported an operating loss of $553 million from April to June, wider than the $441 million loss analysts were expecting, and up from a $168 million loss from a year earlier. Costs piled up from consolidation of Hulu and spending on Disney+ and the ESPN+ streaming service, Disney said.
“Some of the other misses seem to be related to the integration of Fox,” said analyst Jim Nail at Forrester. “I would speculate that they have decided to take all their lumps this quarter and put all this ‘bad’ news together, clearing the board for better results next quarter.” Iger also said it would bundle its streaming services, charging $12.99 a month for Disney+, ESPN+ and ad-supported Hulu, starting in November.
The movies sucked but future movies like Little Mermaid are going to be even worse! Time to see their stocks!