Disney Shares Surge After Dramatic Rise In Streaming Subs

Disney (DIS) shares are rising in the after-market following across-the-board beats.

The happiest company on earth beat top and bottom lines:

• Disney 3Q Rev. $17.02B, Est. $16.80B
• Disney 3Q Adj EPS 80c, Est. 55c

And comfortably beat on the subs:

• Disney 3Q Disney+ Subscribers 116.0M, Est. 113.1M

An impressive jump of 12 million subs over last quarter (h/t @JonErlichman)...

• Aug 2021: 116 million
• Apr 2021: 104 million
• Mar 2021: 100 million
• Jan 2021:95 million
• Dec 2020: 87 million
• Oct 2020: 74 million
• Aug 2020: 61 million
• May 2020: 55 million
• Apr 2020: 50 million
• Feb 2020: 29 million
• Nov 2019:launches

Disney’s streaming business lost only $293 million in the quarter. It has already trimmed its losses by 53% from a year ago.

All of which conspired to sen shares over 5% higher in after-hours trading, back at 3-month highs...

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In an afterthought, the other segments also beat expectations:

• Disney 3Q Parks, Experiences & Products Oper Income $356M
• DIS 3Q Media and Entertainment Distribution Oper Income $2.03B

“We ended the third quarter in a strong position, and are pleased with the Company’s trajectory as we grow our businesses amidst the ongoing challenges of the pandemic,” said Bob Chapek, Chief Executive Officer, The Walt Disney Company.

“We continue to introduce exciting new experiences at our parks and resorts worldwide, along with new guest-centric services, and our direct-to-consumer business is performing very well, with a total of nearly 174 million subscriptions across Disney+, ESPN+ and Hulu at the end of the quarter, and a host of new content coming to the platforms.”

Finally, Disney says that it’s still seeing disruption in film and television production and live events. It also has to continuously implement safety measures to keep up with the latest regulations. The company expects these Covid-related costs to reach an estimated $1 billion in fiscal 2021.