Media

More All-Time Highs for Disney Stock Despite Parks Still Suffering

Chris Lange

Published: February 11, 2021 4:25 pm

Last Updated: February 12, 2021 6:03 am

Walt Disney Co. (NYSE: DIS) released fiscal first-quarter financial results after markets closed Tuesday. The Mouse House said that it had $0.32 in earnings per share (EPS) and $16.25 billion in revenue, compared with consensus estimates that called for a net loss of $0.41 per share and $15.93 billion in revenue. The same period from last year had $1.53 in EPS and $20.86 billion in revenue.

Linear Networks revenues for the quarter increased 2% to $7.69 billion, and segment operating income decreased 4% to $1.73 billion.

Parks, Experiences and Products revenues for the quarter decreased 53% year over year to $3.59 billion, and segment operating income decreased $2.6 billion to a loss of $119 million. Lower operating income for the quarter was due to decreases at both the domestic and international parks.

Direct-to-Consumer revenues for the quarter increased 73% to $3.50 billion and segment operating loss decreased 58% to $466 million. The decrease in operating loss was due to improved results at Hulu, and to a lesser extent, at Disney+ and ESPN+.

Disney reported that it had 94.9 million subscribers for its Disney+ streaming service. ESPN+ had a total of 12.1 million subscribers and Hulu subscribers totaled 39.4 million. The average monthly revenue per paid subscriber for Disney+ decreased from $5.56 to $4.03. For ESPN+ this increased from $4.44 to $4.48, and Hulu increased from $13.15 to $13.51.

On the books, cash and cash equivalents totaled $17.07 billion at the end of the quarter, versus $17.91 billion at the end of the previous fiscal year.

Disney stock closed Thursday at $191.05, with a 52-week range of $79.07 to $191.25. The consensus analyst price target is $188.70. Following the announcement, the stock was up about 1% at $193.35 in the after-hours session.