Walt Disney Q1 Results Beat Wall Street Estimates

(RTTNews) - Walt Disney Co. (DIS) Thursday reported a surprise profit for the first quarter, as subscribers for its streaming content surged. The media and entertainment giant's earnings and revenues easily trumped Wall Street estimates.

Burbank, California-based Disney reported a first-quarter profit of $17 million or $0.01 per share, compared with last year's profit of $2.11 billion or $1.16 per share.

Adjusted earnings for the quarter were $0.32 per share, down from $1.53 per share last year. On average, 24 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters estimated a loss of $0.41 per share.

Revenues for the quarter slipped 22% to $16.25 billion from last year's $20.88 billion last year. Analysts had a consensus revenue estimate of $15.93 billion.

The company said its results in the quarter were adversely impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, most significant impact was at the Disney Parks, Experiences and Products segment where since late in the second quarter of last year parks and resorts have been closed or operating at significantly reduced capacity and cruise ship sailings have been suspended.

"We believe the strategic actions we're taking to transform our Company will fuel our growth and enhance shareholder value, as demonstrated by the incredible strides we've made in our DTC business, reaching more than 146 million total paid subscriptions across our streaming services at the end of the quarter," said Bob Chapek, Chief Executive Officer.

Direct-to-Consumer revenues, which includes Hulu, ESPN+ and Disney+ services, increased 73% to $3.5 billion. Disney+ subscribers soared to 94.9 million from 26.5 million last year, while Hulu recorded 30% subscriber growth to 39.4 million subscribers and ESPN+ subscriber growth increased 83% to 12.1 million.

Media and Entertainment Distribution segment revenues dropped 5% to $12.66 billion, while Parks, Experiences and Products revenues plunged 53% to $3.59 billion.

DIS closed Thursday's trading at $190.91, up $1.28 or 0.67%, on the Nasdaq. The stock further gained $2.88 or 1.51% in the after-hours trade.