Disney Q2 Earnings Surpass Estimates, Revenues Increase Y/Y

The Walt Disney Company DIS reported second-quarter fiscal 2025 adjusted earnings of $1.45 per share, which beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 22.88% and increased 19.8% year over year.

Revenues rose 7% year over year to $23.62 billion and beat the consensus mark by 2.1%.

Disney shares were up more than 10% at the time of writing this article. DIS shares have dropped 8.5% year to date (YTD), outperforming streaming peers Amazon AMZN and Apple AAPL, shares of which dropped 14.8% and 20.9%, respectively. Disney shares have underperformed Netflix NFLX shares, which have returned 27.9% YTD.

In the trailing 12-month period, Disney shares have underperformed Amazon, Apple and Netflix. While Disney has declined 4.3%, Apple and Netflix shares have jumped 8.3% and 87%, respectively. Amazon shares declined 0.7%.

The Walt Disney Company Price

Disney’s Q2 Segment Details

Entertainment revenues (45.2% of revenues) increased 9% year over year to $10.68 billion.

Revenues from Linear Networks declined 12.5% year over year to $2.42 billion. Direct-to-Consumer revenues increased 8.4% year over year to $6.12 billion. Content Sales/Licensing and Other revenues grew 54.5% year over year to $2.15 billion.

Experiences revenues (37.6% of revenues) rose 5.9% year over year to $8.89 billion. Domestic revenues were $6.5 billion, up 9.1% year over year. International revenues decreased 5.3% year over year to $1.44 billion in the reported quarter. 

Meanwhile, Disney’s Sports revenues increased 5% year over year to $4.53 billion.

Disney’s Q2 Subscriber Details

As of March 29, 2025, Disney+ had 126 million paid subscribers compared with 124.6 million as of Dec. 28, 2024. 

Domestic Disney+ average monthly revenue per paid subscriber increased 5% to $7.52 due to increases in prices, partially offset by lower advertising revenues.

International Disney+ (excluding Disney+ Hotstar) average monthly revenue per paid subscriber increased from $6.78 to $7.19 due to increases in prices and subscriber mix shifts.

Hulu SVOD Only average monthly revenue per paid subscriber decreased from $12.52 to $12.36 due to lower advertising revenue, partially offset by increases in pricing.

Disney’s Q2 Operating Details

Costs & expenses increased 4.7% year over year at $20.12 billion in the reported quarter. 

Segmental operating income was $4.44 billion, up 15.4% year over year.

Entertainment segmental operating income surged 94.9% year over year to $1.7 billion. Linear Networks’ operating income increased 2.3% to $769 million. Direct-to-Consumer operating income was $336 million compared with the year-ago quarter’s operating income of $47 million. Content Sales/Licensing and Other operating income were $153 million against an operating loss of $18 million reported in the year-ago quarter. 

Experiences segmental operating income was $2.49 billion, up 9% year over year. 

The Domestic segment reported an operating income of $1.82 billion, up 13.4% year over year. The International segment reported an operating income of $225 million, down 22.9% year over year. Consumer Products’ operating profit increased 14.5% year over year to $443 million.

Sports operating income fell 12% year over year to $687 million.

Disney’s Balance Sheet Remains Strong

As of March 29, 2025, cash and cash equivalents were $5.85 billion compared with $5.48 billion as of Dec. 28, 2024.

Total borrowings (including the current portion of borrowings) were $42.9 billion as of March 29, 2025, compared with $45.3 billion as of Dec. 28, 2024.

Free cash flow was $4.89 billion in the reported quarter.

Disney Offers Positive Guidance

For fiscal 2025, Disney expects adjusted earnings of $5.75 per share, up 16% over fiscal 2024. (Find the latest EPS estimates and surprises on Zacks Earnings Calendar.)

Entertainment operating income growth is expected to be in the double-digit percentage range, while Experiences’ operating income growth is expected to be between 6% and 8% year over year. The Sports segment's operating income is expected to grow 18%.

For the fiscal third quarter, Disney expects a modest increase in its Disney+ subscriber base on a sequential basis.

Zacks Rank

Disney currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report

This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

Zacks Investment Research