A statue of Walt Disney and Mickey Mouse stands in a garden in front of Cinderella’s Castle at the Magic Kingdom Park at Walt Disney World on May 31, 2024, in Orlando, Florida.
Gary Hershorn | Corbis News | Getty Images
Disney will report quarterly earnings on Thursday, and Wall Street will once again be focused on updates from the company’s media business — particularly when it comes to traditional TV and streaming.
Here is what Wall Street is expecting Disney to report for its fiscal fourth quarter, according to LSEG:
Earnings per share: $1.05 expectedRevenue: $22.75 billion expected
This will mark the last time the company reports subscriber numbers and the average revenue per unit, or ARPU, for its streaming services, which includes Disney+ and Hulu.
Disney will follow in the footsteps of streaming behemoth Netflix, which earlier this year stopped updating investors on its subscriber count.
In August, Disney said it had nearly 128 million Disney+ subscribers, and Hulu had 55.5 million. That same month the company also launched the ESPN direct-to-consumer app, which includes all of the content from its TV networks.
The company also said it would no longer report subscriber and ARPU metrics for ESPN+ beginning in the fiscal fourth quarter.
The company also once again hiked prices on its streaming offerings in October.
The final subscriber report will also shed light on whether Disney’s streaming subscriptions were affected by its decision in September to temporarily suspend late night program “Jimmy Kimmel Live!”
Disney had pulled the show from the air following comments Kimmel made about Charlie Kirk’s killing and President Donald Trump’s MAGA movement. Following the decision to pause the program — which lasted less than a week — media outlets reported Disney experienced an exodus of subscribers.
While streaming remains the key area of focus for investors given its consistent growth, eyes will also be on Disney’s traditional TV networks, which include the broadcast network ABC and cable TV channels like ESPN and FX.
Media peers like Warner Bros. Discovery have recently reported quarterly earnings which showcase continued declines at TV networks, particularly when it comes to advertising revenue, as more consumers shift from the TV bundle to streaming options. Disney has reported operating income and ad revenue declines for the linear networks in prior quarters.
