Yesterday, May 11, The Walt Disney Company released the details of its Second Quarter Financial Report for 2022, and overall CEO Bob Chapek and Senior Executive Vice President/CFO Christine McCarthy reported positive numbers.
The Walt Disney Company (TWDC) divides its businesses in two parts: media/entertainment and parks.
Disney Media and Entertainment Distribution includes both network TV and streaming, along with movies, TV, and other visual and audio entertainment.
Domestic broadcast saw profit rise on higher affiliate and advertising revenue at ABC, which was counter-balanced by a dip in cable network profit attributed to higher programming and production costs for NFL College Football Playoff, NBA and college basketball.
Worldwide streaming, which includes Disney+, Disney+ Hotstar, ESPN+, and Hulu, reported a grand total of 205.6 million total global paid streaming subscribers, up 9.2 million from the prior quarter.
Disney+ alone reported an increase of 7.9 million subscribers. Recent park discount promotions and the bundling of Disney+ into Hulu+Live probably contributed to that number.
Disney Parks, Experiences, and Products, the other half of TWDC, reported that it has doubled revenue to more than $6.6 billion from this time last year. This number was obtained even though the Shanghai park has been closed since March 2022, and Hong Kong was closed most of the second quarter, only recently reopening.
It was mentioned that higher costs, such as admission, hotels, food/beverage, and merchandise, along with the introduction of the paid Genie+ service, were a big factor in those overall numbers, with a per capita spending up 40% compared to 2019.
Chapek also plugged the immersive “Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser” hotel, saying the hotel has incredibly high guest ratings and they expect the hotel to be fully booked into the summer.
When speaking of the domestic parks, Disneyland and Walt Disney World, McCarthy said there were “many days” where demand for the parks was higher than expected, without offering any attendance numbers.
She also said they will continue to limit attendance at the parks using the reservations system, so it looks like you’re still going to need a reservation in addition to an admission ticket for the foreseeable future.
No mention was made of recent conflicts with Florida Govenor Ron DeSantis over recent legislation regarding the nicknamed “Don’t Say Gay Bill” or Reedy Creek, but if they have affected the company, those numbers won’t come until the next quarterly report.
The third and fourth quarter earnings will be very interesting. Hard to believe there won’t be some impact by Disney’s stance on the parental rights bill.
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