Disney beat its own timetable to streaming profits with an upbeat June quarter that also saw a big contribution from Inside Out 2. For more than a year, the company promised a streaming swing to profits in the fiscal fourth quarter of 2024, but it struck early, reporting $47 million in DTC business revenue in Q3 (up from a loss of $512 million the year before).
Disney beats expectations, joint streaming services turn profit
Disney+ and Hulu actually lost $19 million (on $5.8 billion in revenue), but that was more than offset by ESPN+. Disney+ and Hulu should become profitable and their combined streaming revenue should grow in the current September quarter.
Yesterday, Disney announced price increases for most streaming subscriptions starting in October.
There’s been a sea of change in how the industry views streaming, a pivot toward profit over subscriber growth. Disney+ ended the quarter with 118.3 million core subscribers (domestic and international, excluding Hotstar) versus 117.6 million the year before.
