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Disney’s Earnings Missed the Mark Falling Well Below Wall Street Expectations

Bob Chapek
Credit: Disney

The Disney 4th Quarter Earnings call did not go as well as Disney executives likely had hoped. This is primarily due to the fact that Disney has not performed as well as Wall Street predicted they would, and investors were primed and ready with questions demanding explanations that Disney CEO Bob Chapek and CFO Christine McCarthy left mostly unanswered. It seems consumer confidence in the company has also been shaken as shares in Disney fell drastically at the conclusion of the call in after-hours trading.

Disney earnings

The company said it earned $162 million, or 9 cents per share, in the July-September quarter. This represents almost no gain compared to last year when they reported earnings of $160 million, or 9 cents a share. Over the course of the entire year, Disney earned 30 cents per share. Analysts, on average, were expecting earnings of 56 cents per share on that basis, according to an ABC News report. To put it in different terms, revenue grew just 8.75% to $20.15 billion from $18.53 billion. Wall Street analysts were expecting revenue of $21.27 billion. This means Disney earned $1.12 billion less than anticipated.

Disney executives blamed a number of factors for the disappointing revenue growth, including fewer theatrical film releases, underperformance of the parks division, and, as McCarthy pointed out,  4th Quarter always sees a revenue drop due to back-to-school time. Disney+, despite adding many bew subscribers, is still operating at a loss, which is common for a new venture. CEO Bob Chapek remains confident in the streaming service’s ability to turn a profit by 2024.

Disney earnings

Credit: Disney

The company, however, remains very hopeful for future profitability. “Putting this all together, assuming we do not see a meaningful shift in the macroeconomic climate, we currently expect total company fiscal 2023 revenue and segment operating income to both grow at a high-single-digit percentage rate versus fiscal 2022,” McCarthy said.

 

 

About Jill Bivins

Jill Bivins has been visiting Disney Parks since she was 2 years old and loves sharing her Disney adventures with the world. She likes to say Disney is in her blood and writing is in her bones — so any time she has the opportunity to combine these loves she is one happy camper! She has a deep abiding love for Epcot and as a die hard Star Wars fan has a serious love for Hollywood Studios as well. When she isn't exploring or writing about Disney Parks, Jill is homeschooling her 8 year old son, playing with her brand new baby son, or pretending to be a farmer on her family homestead (despite being unable to keep even a cactus alive). Find Jill on Instagram @minnieonmain.