Plán společnosti Disney vysílat Super Bowl na ABC, ESPN a streamovacích platformách může místním stanicím ABC snížit příjmy z reklamy během přenosu až o 35 %.
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Disney knows that business, like football, is a contact sport. Sometimes the hits come in-house from feuding among executives. Sometimes they come in court, from battling the Federal Communications Commission.
And sometimes, Disney, which owns ABC, takes hits from its own affiliates.
ABC station owners are irritated with Disney's recent decision to air the Super Bowl on many different platforms, including Disney+, ESPN2, NFL Network and ESPNU. The game is already airing on both ABC and ESPN. The aggregate of the different platforms may drop advertising revenue associated with broadcast viewership by up to 35% compared to last year, according to a station group CEO who asked not to be named because the data is private.
Disney has the broadcast rights to this season's Super Bowl. ABC hasn't had the Super Bowl since 2006. Disney got back in the Super Bowl rotation when it struck its most recent media rights deal with the NFL in 2021.
The Super Bowl is a major moneymaker for ABC stations. Some of these are owned by Disney, but the vast majority are part of local station groups owned by companies such as Sinclair, Nexstar and Tegna.
Fox said last year that Super Bowl ads generated more than $800 million in gross revenue across all platforms. The math for the main broadcast network is simple. There are about 85 30-second spots during a standard game. At $8 million a pop on average, that's $680 million.
Most advertising campaigns are national, but some brands buy big markets only. That allows smaller markets to sell advertising locally.
An average primetime audience is around eight million viewers. So, if the Super Bowl gets 15 times the audience, advertising rates increase in lockstep. Super Bowl LX, held in February, had 125.6 million viewers.
About 3% of a typical local affiliate station's annual advertising revenue comes from the Super Bowl when the game is on its air, according to a person familiar with the matter. The number can be much higher for the owned-and-operated big market stations, which typically take in about $10 million in advertising revenue from the Super Bowl, according to a source familiar with the matter.
Local affiliate stations pay the owners of the broadcast networks — Disney for ABC, Comcast for NBC, Fox for Fox and Skydance for CBS — a so-called reverse retransmission fee for the right to carry network programming.
There's a standard process to retransmission fee discussions. Disney pays billions for live sports and then asks its affiliates for money to help pay for them. The affiliates then negotiate with the pay-TV providers and charge them retrans fees.
This is why the broadcast affiliates are steaming. For decades, the Super Bowl was exclusive to broadcast TV. Getting access to the Big Game was a big part of that fee.
For years, media companies have made the Super Bowl available for both broadcast and streaming audiences. Still, this year, Disney has taken a wrecking ball to the broadcast exclusivity of the past.
Disney's different optionsGiven the game is an ESPN production with ESPN's primary "Monday Night Football" announcing crew — Joe Buck and Troy Aikman — it's reasonable to assume the cable network will get a fair amount of viewership for the game.
Disney is also putting the game on Disney+ — a streaming service that's never been about sports. Airing the Super Bowl on a streaming service isn't new. NBCUniversal's Peacock, Fox's Tubi and Skydance's Paramount+ have streamed the game in the past. But those services allow for geofenced dynamic advertising insertion (DAI), allowing local affiliates to sell commercials to a streaming audience. Disney+, which doesn't typically air live ABC sports programming, doesn't have DAI.
Disney is also airing so-called "alt-casts" of the game on ESPN2 (Eli and Peyton Manning will do their typical "ManningCast"), ESPNU ("Super Bowl LXI Field Pass with The Pat McAfee Show"), and NFL Network ("Super Bowl LXI Playbook with Next Gen Stats").
Disney is even airing a "Star Wars"-themed alt-cast on Disney Channel and Disney XD. The "Star Wars" alternative broadcast will also be on Disney+.
The commercials that run nationally will be the same on all platforms, according to a Disney spokesperson. The "Star Wars" alt-cast will be ad-free.
Disney wants to synergize its platforms to maximize viewership — and collect the ad revenue.
"The Super Bowl is the year's most-watched telecast, and our broad distribution across ESPN, ABC, and Disney+ will give fans everywhere more ways than ever to enjoy the game," according to a statement provided by a Disney spokesperson. "Making marquee live events available via streaming is a well-established industry practice. Fox and NBC have recently offered the Super Bowl on Tubi and Peacock, and we've similarly streamed 'The Oscars' on Hulu and 'Dancing with the Stars' on Disney+, for example. There's nothing unprecedented about this approach as we are meeting the modern consumer where they are."
Still, the totality of it all will certainly lower broadcast viewership. One station group CEO estimated local advertising revenue associated with the game may fall 35%. That executive declined to be named because the analysis is private.
"Any time you fragment distribution, you're destroying value for each of the individual platforms," a station group CEO told me, who asked not to be named for fear of potential retribution. "I don't have a problem with what Disney is doing — I have a problem that there's no acknowledgement that we're losing money."
Affiliate board involvementThis issue of lower broadcast Super Bowl viewership, and associated advertising revenue, is of so much concern that it's currently being discussed at the affiliate board — an elected body of executives across the TV broadcasting industry who act as liaisons between local stations and their parent network (Disney/ABC, in this case).
It's unclear exactly how affiliates may be compensated, if at all.
The decline in traditional TV viewership is pushing Disney to broaden its coverage to new platforms and new audiences that don't watch cable or broadcast TV.
Station executives want Disney to lean in to what continues to be a profitable, albeit declining, business. Several of those executives told me privately they think Disney is doing itself and the broader linear TV ecosystem a disservice by not banding together with affiliates to keep viewers on broadcast platforms.
"Our ABC affiliates are important partners and we always take that into careful consideration when making these decisions," said a Disney spokesperson. "We've successfully navigated similar situations in collaboration with the governing board many times before, and this is no different."
The chairman of the ABC Television Affiliates Association Board of Governors declined to comment.
Disney po bankrotu společnosti Character.AI nabídne práci nejméně 60 jejím zaměstnancům, tedy většině týmu, přičemž odhadované roční mzdové náklady činí 60 milionů USD.
After chatbot startup Character.AI filed for bankruptcy earlier this week, many of its employees will have the opportunity to take jobs at Disney.
Character.AI’s former CEO Karandeep Anand recently became the entertainment giant’s first CTO, and the startup previously said that Disney had agreed to acquire some of its assets for $20 million.
A legal filing spotted by Bloomberg revealed more details about the agreement between Character.AI and Disney, with Disney agreeing to make employment offers to at least 60 Character.AI employees — the majority of the workforce — paying them an estimated $60 million in annual compensation.
The filing also says that the “vast majority” of Character.AI employees who were offered jobs at Disney accepted them. However, this is a stalking horse bid, so another company could come forward with a higher offer.
The filing says that despite its “large and engaged user base,” Character.AI has been hobbled by high costs and “potential litigation-related liabilities and regulatory engagement.” (The company was sued by the mother of a 14-year-old boy who said her son became obsessed with one of Character.AI’s chatbots before committing suicide; it also faces government investigations over child safety concerns.)
Walt Disney's (DIS -0.08%) place is in the living room. Its popular cable channels helped it establish a dominant position in the media and entertainment industry. But this part of the business faces secular decline, as U.S. households have been cutting the cord. The linear networks aren't as lucrative as they once were.
The company has transitioned successfully this decade in the streaming age. It's been a costly evolution, though. But Disney+, Hulu, and the direct-to-consumer (DTC) ESPN platform give Disney a comprehensive content offering that caters to everyone in the family.
While changes have happened on the TV screen, the experiences segment continues to drive the lion's share of financial results. And the business is investing aggressively here.
Shareholders have witnessed multiple CEO changes, from Bob Chapek to Bob Iger to Josh D'Amaro. And the consumer discretionary stock has disappointed amid all of this turbulence. It currently trades 46% off its peak (as of Oct. 14). And it's down 4% in 2026, lagging the broader market.
There's one stat, however, that makes the House of Mouse hard to ignore in October.
Image source: The Motley Fool.
The valuation represents a discount to the market Disney shares trade at a forward price-to-earnings ratio of 13.8 right now. That's significantly cheaper than the S&P 500's 19.6 multiple. It looks like a compelling bargain opportunity. That point carries extra weight when the market is near record territory. And given that it's been four years since this raging bull market started, investors might find it challenging to identify reasonably valued stocks.
As noted earlier, Disney hasn't been running a simple and easy-to-follow business. It seems that there are a lot of moving parts. And the market could be punishing the stock because of it.
The legacy cable networks continue to be a financial drag. From fiscal 2022 to fiscal 2025 (last available data), operating income fell 65%. That's not surprising because, according to eMarketer, the number of cable-TV households in the U.S. will decline again in 2026 to 54 million. That's down from 105 million households in 2010. Consumers have increasingly moved their attention to streaming entertainment, which has hurt legacy media players.
And this is a capital-intensive business. In addition to expanding its experiences division, Disney must constantly invest in content that seems to get more expensive every year. This is particularly true with valuable sports rights. Big tech enterprises have entered the arena, which can result in costly bidding wars.
Competition for eyeballs is also intense these days. And it's a crowded race to capture consumer discretionary spending. Moreover, the investment community might simply be chasing what has been the hottest trade, which is owning artificial intelligence stocks.
$110.59-$0.09 (-0.08%)
NYSE · As of 4:00 PM ET 10/16/26
Take a five-year view Knowing the negative factors, I still believe the valuation makes Disney shares too hard to ignore this month. For less than 14 times forward earnings, investors can own a stake in a high-quality company.
It all starts with something that no rival can copy, which is Disney's intellectual property (IP). Decades of characters, franchises, and stories can't be rebuilt with any amount of capital. This supports the company's economic moat.
The entertainment DTC operations, including Disney+ and Hulu (excluding live TV), have turned the corner on profitability. Operating income soared more than 100% year over year in Q3 (ended June 27) to $712 million. In fiscal 2022, it posted a sizable operating loss of $4 billion (including ESPN+). This is an emerging bottom-line tailwind.
Then there's the experience segment. The main drivers here are the theme parks and cruises, both of which are expanding as part of a 10-year, $60 billion capital expenditure cycle announced three years ago. The segment's Q3 operating income of $3 billion, accounting for 54% of the company's total, demonstrates how lucrative it is for Disney to bring its IP to life.
Patient investors with a five-year horizon have plenty to like here.
Disney nabídne 66 zaměstnancům Character.AI odměny v hodnotě 60 milionů USD ročně a navíc vyčlení 30 milionů USD na retenční fond; během tří let tak na ně vynaloží 180 milionů USD.
Disney CEO Josh D'Amaro plans to hire employees from Character.AI, where new tech chief Karandeep Anand worked.
Taylor Hill/FilmMagic; Manaure Quintero / AFP via Getty Images
Disney is paying up for employees from an AI chatbot startup that filed for bankruptcy, shortly after trimming its own tech workforce.
The Mouse House plans to pay $60 million per year to 66 workers from Character.AI, according to a Chapter 11 filing on Tuesday from its parent company. In mid-September, Disney hired Character.AI CEO Karandeep Anand to be its first-ever company-wide tech chief. (The company hasn't yet disclosed how much it's paying Anand.)
These additions are part of Disney's AI strategy under CEO Josh D'Amaro, who's been investing in the media giant's tech platforms to help jumpstart a stagnant stock that's up less than 2% in the last 12 months and is down over 36% in the last five years.
Disney's decision to bring in these Character.AI staffers came two weeks after it laid off several hundred workers — including some tech employees. The late-September cuts were Disney's third major round of layoffs since D'Amaro took over in mid-March.
In addition to the $60 million in compensation, Disney is setting aside an additional $30 million for an "aggregate retention pool" to incentivize Character.AI employees to stay. The company expects to spend $180 million on "total compensation and retention" for these staffers in the next three years, the filing said.
Of the 66 Character.AI staffers who were offered jobs by Disney, 56 have already resigned from the AI startup, while the other 10 are waiting for the US government to update their work visas.
Entertainment lawyer Corey Martin of Granderson Des Rochers, who advises companies on media transactions, said he's not surprised by those pay figures since Character.AI's employees are its biggest asset.
"They're highly compensated employees. The numbers can be eye-popping, but it's not that unusual in this space," said Martin, who didn't work on the deal or with Disney.
Disney also agreed to pay $20 million for Character.AI's key assets, including some of its IP and tech. Other companies can submit competing bids for the assets by November 20. The entire process will be overseen by a bankruptcy court judge. Disney didn't respond to requests for comment for this story.
Character.AI filed for bankruptcy after facing lawsuits from families who alleged that their teenagers harmed themselves or committed suicide after using the company's custom AI chatbots. The AI startup and Google, one of its backers, settled several child safety lawsuits earlier this year.
Disney sent a cease-and-desist letter to Character.AI last fall, telling it not to create AI chatbots featuring its copyrighted characters without permission. Character.AI complied, removing chatbots with characters from Disney franchises like Star Wars and Marvel.
In its bankruptcy announcement, Character.AI said that it had been facing "significant legal, regulatory, and operational headwinds."
Anand told Disney employees in a memo last Friday that the Mouse House was "uniquely positioned to win" in a competitive media business that he said was "at an inflection point." The tech chief also said he enjoyed meeting his new colleagues and looked forward to working with them.
"What stands out most is the talent and care this team puts into its work, the craft Disney has perfected, and the strong foundation you've built," Anand said.
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James Faris
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James Faris is a media correspondent in New York City.He covers the business of media & entertainment, specifically the streaming, TV, and AI strategies of Hollywood giants like Disney, Skydance (Paramount-WBD), and Netflix. He previously wrote about the stock market, the economy, and real estate.James joined Business Insider after graduating magna cum laude from James Madison University.Email James at [email protected] and follow him on LinkedIn.
Character.AI podala návrh na ochranu před věřiteli podle kapitoly 11 amerického insolvenčního zákona a prodává aktiva; Disney nabízí 20 milionů USD za licenci k části duševního vlastnictví.
Character.AI filed for bankruptcy and is putting its chatbot platform up for sale.
Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto via Getty Images
Character.AI, the chatbot startup founded by former Google researchers, has filed for bankruptcy.
The California-based company said it had initiated a voluntary Chapter 11 process in Delaware to pursue a court-supervised sale of all or substantially all of its assets.
Character.AI, which lets users create personalized AI bots, said its platform would remain online during the sale process, which it expects to finish by late November or early December.
The company has agreed to let Disney Worldwide Services, an affiliate of the Walt Disney Company, act as the opening bidder for a non-exclusive, perpetual license to certain Character.AI intellectual property and claims.
Disney said it would pay $20 million and provide transition services using former Character.AI employees it has hired. Other potential buyers can still make higher bids under the bankruptcy process. Last month, Disney hired former Character.AI CEO Karandeep Anand as its CTO.
Character.AI's CEO Colin Adams said in a Monday statement that it had taken steps to "sustain and improve" its business amid "significant legal, regulatory, and operational headwinds."
"After a comprehensive review of our available alternatives, our board determined that this court-supervised sale process provides us with the best opportunity to maximize value for all of our stakeholders," the company said in a blog post on Monday.
The startup said paid subscriptions remain active and billing is unchanged for now. But it warned that if the sale does not produce a bid sufficient to keep the platform running, it will wind down the service.
Character.AI hit with lawsuitsCharacter.AI did not spell out the legal, regulatory, and operational pressures that led to the filing. But the company has faced growing scrutiny over the potential effect of its AI companions on young users.
It announced last year that it would ban under-18s from having open-ended conversations with its chatbots, following concerns about AI's impact on children and teenagers.
Prior to that, Character.AI had faced lawsuits from families who alleged its chatbots contributed to teenagers' mental-health crises. Earlier this year, Character.AI and Google agreed in principle to settle several of those cases, including claims brought by families of teenagers who died by suicide or experienced self-harm after using the chatbots.
One Texas lawsuit alleged that a Character.AI chatbot encouraged a teenager to kill his parents over limits on his screen time. That case was among those the companies agreed in principle to settle. The terms were not disclosed.
The startup was founded in 2021 by former Google researchers Noam Shazeer and Daniel De Freitas. Google rehired the pair in 2024 and paid for non-exclusive rights to use Character.AI's technology, while the startup continued as a separate company.
Character.AI said its privacy and security practices remain unchanged during the bankruptcy process.
It said users can continue to access its services and export their data or delete their accounts through its app or website.
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Disney jmenoval Karandeepa Ananda prvním CTO pro celou společnost, který povede technologickou transformaci s cílem lépe konkurovat Netflixu a YouTube ve streamingu.
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Disney hired Karandeep Anand from Character.AI to oversee its technology strategy.
Manaure Quintero / AFP via Getty Images; Illustration by Samuel Boivin/NurPhoto via Getty Images
Disney's new tech chief said in a memo to employees that he "won't pretend it will be easy" to win in the changing media environment.
Karandeep Anand, the Mouse House's first-ever companywide CTO, was hired by CEO Josh D'Amaro to lead Disney's tech transformation. He started in early October. Under D'Amaro, Disney is investing in tech to better compete with Netflix and YouTube in streaming.
Anand previously ran Character.AI, an AI startup that Disney sent a cease-and-desist letter to last fall. (Disney told Character.AI not to make chatbots from its copyrighted characters without permission, and the startup complied.)
Anand told staffers on Friday afternoon that the media business is "at an inflection point," adding that he's confident Disney has a strong hand thanks to its deep, iconic content library and a passionate fan base.
"With our rich IP and global fan community, I strongly believe we are uniquely positioned to win," Anand said in his memo, which was obtained by Business Insider.
The new tech chief said that winning in this highly competitive media landscape "will take focus, speed, and the willingness to say no to good ideas so we can say yes to great ones."
Anand also said he's "admired Disney for as long as I can remember" and said he had constructive conversations in his first full week inside the Mouse House.
"What stands out most is the talent and care this team puts into its work, the craft Disney has perfected, and the strong foundation you've built," Anand said.
Disney has leaned into tech this year by embracing AI and further unifying Disney+ and Hulu — the first step in building a streaming super app that includes games and merchandise.
Anand highlighted the same three top priorities that D'Amaro listed in the memo announcing his hire: great storytelling as our North Star, technology in service of creativity, and operating as One Disney.
D'Amaro is contending with Disney's listless stock price. Shares have fallen more than 1% in the past year, compared to a 17.3% gain for the S&P 500, and are down over 38% in the past five years, while US stocks broadly have risen more than 74%.
Read Anand's full memo below:
Team,As I close out my first week at Disney, thank you for the warm welcome you gave me and the colleagues who joined me.I've admired Disney for as long as I can remember, so walking the lot, attending the Tech Showcase, and meeting so many of you has been an unforgettable start. What stands out most is the talent and care this team puts into its work, the craft Disney has perfected, and the strong foundation you've built.It's only been a few days, but I'm more excited than when I accepted this job. Josh has laid out three priorities: great storytelling as our North Star, technology in service of creativity, and operating as One Disney. Our job in technology is to make those real, and the possibilities are enormous. We're at an inflection point in the tech and media industry, and with our rich IP and global fan community, I strongly believe we are uniquely positioned to win.I won't pretend it will be easy. It will take focus, speed, and the willingness to say no to good ideas so we can say yes to great ones. I'll be direct with you about priorities and tradeoffs as I learn them. But I'm confident we can get there, and do it quickly.Over the coming weeks I'll be meeting with teams across the company, and I look forward to sharing how I'm thinking about our priorities soon. Until then, please keep doing the great work you're doing.Thank you again. I'm glad and privileged to be on this team.Karan
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James Faris
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James Faris is a media correspondent in New York City.He covers the business of media & entertainment, specifically the streaming, TV, and AI strategies of Hollywood giants like Disney, Skydance (Paramount-WBD), and Netflix. He previously wrote about the stock market, the economy, and real estate.James joined Business Insider after graduating magna cum laude from James Madison University.Email James at [email protected] and follow him on LinkedIn.
Disney zvýšil upravenou čistou marži z 2 % ve fiskálním roce 2021 na 8,4 %; jeho streamovací byznys, který dříve vykazoval miliardové ztráty, je nyní ziskový.
It shouldn't be hard for a stock to double over five years. If a stock goes up 15% a year, it will get there. However, the market itself doesn't rise with that kind of consistency. If you're a longtime Walt Disney (DIS +0.60%) investor, you know that's a seemingly unreasonable aspiration.
A Disney investment has been a dud in recent years. The shares are down a modest 3% over the past year but are currently trading nearly 40% lower over the last five years. Arguing that the media giant's stock would just have to roughly double to reach its all-time highs in early 2021 -- when the shares briefly traded north of $200 -- is easier said than done.
Thankfully for Disney, there are some pretty good reasons why the next five years can be materially better than the last five. Let's look at some reasons Disney stock could double by 2031.
Image source: Disney.
1. Playing the margins Disney's bottom line has improved dramatically over the past few years, even as the stock price has languished or gone the other way. Disney's streaming business, which was losing billions annually just three years ago, is now profitable.
The pandemic hit Disney's business particularly hard, even though the stock reached a new all-time high in March 2021, while Disneyland in California was still shuttered and its cruise line was still waiting to resume operations. The recovery has been potent.
Disney's adjusted net margin is accelerating sharply for the fifth consecutive year, more than quadrupling from 2% in fiscal 2021 to a trailing margin of 8.4% as we await Disney's fiscal 2026 report next month. The company is delivering on the bottom line.
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2. Cheap is an understatement The overall market is trading at lofty multiples these days. The same can't be said about Disney stock. You can buy a piece of the iconic entertainment powerhouse for just 14 times what analysts see it earning in the new fiscal year that started earlier this month.
Like a limbo stick, that multiple gets lower as the game plays on. Project out to what these same Wall Street pros are modeling, and Disney is trading for just 11 times fiscal 2031's earnings.
Naturally, Disney's trailing P/E ratio would be twice that much if it were to double from here, but this doesn't mean that Disney at $216 in five years means that it's trading for 22 times trailing earnings. Disney has routinely exceeded expectations, and analysts have been perpetually raising their targets. The company has landed 3% to 11% above the market's bottom-line expectations over the past year, even as the stock ticked lower.
3. Mickey Mouse makes monster movies There were just three theatrical releases by U.S. studios that topped $1 billion in global ticket sales in 2024. Disney put out all three. The same thing happened last year.
It's been different in 2026. A lot of studios have been cranking out blockbusters, and Disney will have just two releases clear the $1 billion mark in box-office receipts.
That's not a bad thing. Folks are going out to the movies again. There will be at least six movies that exceed $1 billion in worldwide sales this year, something that has only happened once before.
With the return to pre-pandemic ticket sales and a now-profitable Disney streaming business, Disney has a one-two punch to cash in on every theatrical release. This is the first time this has been the case since the demise of the once-lucrative home video sales market.
4. Theme parks are generating record results Experiences have been Disney's most potent business segment in recent years. Its theme parks and rapidly expanding cruise line are cashing in on consumers' craving for premium, family-friendly vacation environments.
The segment accounts for 39% of Disney's revenue through the first nine months of fiscal 2026 and a whopping 61% of the operating profit. Expansion is underway at Disney's gated attractions worldwide. Last week's reveal of the unique features of Disney Believe -- its latest cruise ship that will set sail next year -- gives it another way to cash in on the travel boom.
5. Folks aren't flinching at higher prices The best thing about being a premium player with a killer brand in a thriving niche is that you have pricing elasticity. Disney raised theme park prices last week. Disney+ and Hulu monthly subscription rates went up last month.
You may have seen some online rumblings about the hikes, and there may be some degree of churn. The real takeaway here is that Disney has done this at its theme park resorts and premium streaming services practically every year. The businesses continue to grow because consumers see Disney investing in new park experiences and streaming content.
The only price at Disney that doesn't seem to be rising these days is its stock price. My prediction is that the upticks are coming next. I believe that Disney can double from here in the next five years.
Disney zvýšil ceny vstupenek a ročních permanentek v amerických parcích o 2 až 7 %. Permanentka Incredi-Pass nyní stojí 1 749 USD a jednodenní vstupenka až 229 USD.
Your neighbor's putting up inflatable skeletons in her yard. The Major League Baseball playoff season is under way. And Walt Disney (DIS +0.51%) is raising ticket prices. These are a;; seasonal rites this time of year. Why is it that only one of them surprises people?
Yes, Disney hiked prices on many annual passes and single-day tickets for its domestic theme parks this week. The same thing happened in early October last year. It was also a cause celebre this month two years ago. And the year before that.
We can talk about the severity of the increases this time around. There will be some people lamenting on Disney fan forums that they've been priced out of the Disney World and Disneyland experience. I don't want to dismiss that. It hurts to see special things become unattainable. However, as long as people keep coming -- and paying those higher prices -- do you think that next October will be any different?
Image source: Disney.
Pass the salt Florida's Disney World is the most visited theme park on the planet. Its annual turnstile clicks -- according to industry tracker TEA/AECOM -- have declined just twice in the last 14 years (through 2024, last year's numbers should be coming soon). There was a scant 0.5% dip in 2016. Then there was a hard reset in 2020 in the aftermath of a four-month closure at the resort. Prices went up almost every year.
The headline grabber is that Disney World's priciest annual pass -- the Incredi-Pass, which provides year-round access without any blackout dates -- is now $1,749 per person. This is a steep $120 increase, but isn't that just $0.33 more a day? The 7% increase does outpace inflation, but it's a different story at the low end. The Pirate Pass, available only to Florida residents, is valid only for non-holiday weekday visits and now costs just $10 more, at $499 per year. The 2% increase is a discount to both inflation and Disney's own rising costs of serving its guests.
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Salt the pass Disney stock has been a market laggard for years, but you can't lay the blame at the feet of the media giant's experiences segment. It sells cruises at a market premium, but it's seeing strong trends to warrant expanding its fleet faster than traditional cruising companies. Its theme parks continue to grow, cranking out record results.
The $1,749 Incredi-Pass annual pass or one-day tickets, now as high as $229 during peak travel periods, will be ammo for the naysayers. The irony is that those same moves provide ammo for shareholders. If Disney starts to become a hot investment again, it will be because it monetized its good fortune without losing its audience. The headlines this week appear mean-spirited, for what is essentially a reasonable 2% to 7% annual pricing adjustment. Disney knows what it's doing.
Disney announced Wednesday that its streaming service Disney+ will air the upcoming Super Bowl in February.
The 2027 championship game, as well as two Monday Night Football games leading up to the Super Bowl, will be available to all Disney+ subscribers in the U.S.
Disney had previously announced that its ESPN sports division would produce the Super Bowl in 2027 for the first time ever. The game will air on ESPN and Disney's broadcast network, ABC.
Interest in the upcoming Super Bowl is already high. Disney said on its most recent earnings call that ad spots for the game are already sold out, the earliest sellout in Super Bowl history, according to a press release.
The announcement is the latest move in Disney's efforts to expand its live sports streaming offerings. The media company last year launched a standalone ESPN streaming service, bringing the content outside the cable bundle.
In August, Disney announced that Formula E — the open-wheel racing championship for electric cars — will be available to Disney+ subscribers beginning Dec. 18.
Other streamers are also using live sports to bolster their portfolios. CNBC reported last week that Alphabet's YouTube is actively searching for additional live sports rights. YouTube already pays roughly $2 billion annually for the rights to "NFL Sunday Ticket," which will last until the end of the 2029-30 season.
Netflix will air five NFL games during the 2026-27 season. Netflix Chief Content Officer Bela Bajaria said in a CNBC interview last month that the company would be open to acquiring the rights to international NFL games if they become available.
Divize zážitků společnosti Walt Disney ve 3. čtvrtletí 2026 zvýšila tržby o 10 % na 10 mld. USD a provozní zisk o 20 %; podílela se 54 % na celkovém provozním zisku.
Walt Disney (DIS +0.41%) has historically been known as a leader in cable TV, thanks to popular networks like ABC and ESPN. In recent years, the company's streaming operations have gotten a lot of attention, thanks to the success of Disney+ and Hulu, as well as the launch of the stand-alone ESPN platform.
These are important to Walt Disney, to be sure. However, investors should understand that these parts of the business pale in comparison to the entertainment stock's most lucrative segment.
Image source: The Motley Fool.
During third-quarter 2026 (ended June 27), Disney's experiences segment posted 10% year-over-year revenue growth. This was a better gain than any other segment. Its sales figure of $10 billion accounted for 40% of the entire company's total.
Operating income for experiences soared 20%. This profit metric represented 54% of the company's total operating income.
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The experiences segment includes the theme parks and cruises. These make up what is arguably the most competitively advantaged segment of the business. They have high barriers to entry, and because Disney owns an immense portfolio of intellectual property, these experiences are differentiated in the industry. Consequently, they have historically had pricing power.
Despite the scale of this division, there is still a sizable growth runway to capture. In September 2023, the management team announced a 10-year, $60 billion capital investment plan to bolster the experiences segment in an effort to reach more people around the world. This can support the overall company's long-term financial performance.
Neil Patel has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Walt Disney. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
Lawyers for Disney accused the Trump administration of “blatant violations of the US constitution” and censorship on Tuesday in the first court hearing over the Federal Communications Commission’s early review of the media giant’s eight local television station licenses.
District judge Loren AliKhan seemed unswayed by government arguments that the order to force Disney’s ABC to apply years early to renew local television station licenses was tied to an investigation into parent company Disney’s hiring practices.
ABC, Disney and its station group filed suit against the FCC in August, seeking to block the US media regulator from taking any further steps to punish or pressure the network in connection to the order.
In its lawsuit, ABC argued that the FCC’s actions – taken at the behest of the Donald Trump-appointed chair, Brendan Carr – were actually intended to chill the network’s speech, which the president and Carr have argued is tilted against the administration.
In legal filings and during Tuesday’s hearing, the network cited past threats by the president and the FCC chairman that jeopardized the licenses of television networks, including ABC on several occasions, for editorial purposes.
“These are blatant violations of the US constitution,” the prominent trial lawyer Beth Wilkinson, arguing on behalf of ABC, told the judge during the approximately two-hour hearing.
She said ABC faced a “chilling effect” that has affected – and will continue to impact – its editorial decision-making, as the network steers clear of political bookings and any other programming decisions that could spark further ire from the Trump administration and Carr. “That chilling effect has been happening and will happen every day,” she said, causing “irreparable harm” to the network and its ability to broadcast independent news for the benefit of the American people.
ABC has said it has stopped booking politicians on the daytime talkshow The View and chose to air a July speech by Trump on its streaming platform so as not to antagonize the president. “Our editorial decisions are being affected right now,” Wilkinson said, noting the significance of decisions about how to cover next month’s pivotal midterm elections. “We are watching everything we do … We have already altered our conduct because of the fear of retaliation.”
She also noted that ABC recently chose to air a Jimmy Kimmel-conducted interview with Texas US Senate candidate James Talarico on YouTube, rather than television, “because the FCC has no control over YouTube”.
Dimitar P Georgiev, representing the FCC defendants, argued that “there is no reason to believe the early renewal order has prompted changes to the plaintiffs’ editorial decisions”. He also argued that the US district court for the District of Columbia was not the proper jurisdiction for the case, saying that ABC could instead appeal any adverse decision to the US court of appeals for the District of Columbia.
ABC is seeking a decision from the judge to enjoin the FCC from taking any further actions against the network’s licenses. “We are asking to stop pure retaliation, putting us in a process that we should never have to be in,” Wilkinson said.
In what Wilkinson called a “fatal admission”, Georgiev said the license renewal process “is not about the licenses”, but is instead a “tool” to expedite the commission’s review of ABC for potential violations of federal equal opportunities regulations. The lawyer also said the FCC could choose to end the license review process early if ABC is able to satisfy its document requests.
Considering that the FCC opened its employment practice investigation into Disney last year, with requests for documents ongoing since then, the judge asked: “Why is it only in the summer that you determined that their responses were woefully inadequate?”
She also questioned why the commission required the company to submit renewal applications for all eight of its stations simultaneously.
And she noted past comments by Carr about the network’s licenses, including a remark in July, when he had said ABC’s decision not to carry the president’s speech that month on its linear channel could factor into the license investigation.
“It strikes me with all the comments that this was merely over a discovery dispute, what made this so different that you needed to call for an early license renewal?” Judge AliKhan asked lawyers for the FCC, whom she asked for a list of some of the other enforcement actions the commission could have taken short of calling up the network’s licenses early.
And she noted that there was “some daylight” in the FCC’s arguments, considering that the diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) inquiry was handled by the commission’s enforcement bureau, while the license order was made by the media bureau.
The judge ended the hearing without issuing an order, saying she would take the matter “under advisement”.
Walt Disney (DIS +1.39%) and Nike have been iconic brands for decades. They have, however, been struggling of late. Their valuations have been declining, and generating strong growth has also been much more of a challenge than it has been in the past. Both have also changed CEOs in recent years.
Disney's decline hasn't been as disastrous as Nike's (it has lost nearly 80% of its value in five years), but it could end up following the same path. Here's why I think investors are better off avoiding the entertainment stock.
Image source: Getty Images.
Why Disney's stock could be in troubleI see many similarities between Disney and the apparel company Nike. They are in entirely different sectors of the economy, but the problems are comparable. Nike has long been a premium brand, but demand for its high-priced products has declined sharply. The business is struggling to turn things around.
Disney is still growing its business and generating decent numbers, but how long that may last is questionable. Between rising prices and long lines, it's debatable just how much value an experience at one of Disney’s parks really offers families these days. It may face a reckoning in the near future, especially as inflation strains consumers' budgets and they opt for cheaper travel and entertainment options.
I also see the modest growth in its entertainment segment (it was just 6% last quarter), which includes its Disney+ streaming service, as another example of the challenges the brand is facing these days in winning over consumers.
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The stock is cheap, but that doesn't mean it can't go lowerDisney's stock is trading at 21 times its trailing earnings, which is modest in relation to the S&P 500 average of 23. And the gap widens when looking at the forward price-to-earnings (P/E) multiple, which considers the earnings growth ahead for the business (based on analyst projections). Disney's stock is trading at a forward P/E of 14, while the S&P average is 20.
But a low valuation is not a surefire strategy for buying stocks. They can dip lower, especially ones that appear to be in trouble, which is my assessment of Disney. The brand may be losing its luster, and while it's still growing, a significant chunk of that growth is simply due to price increases.
Disney's stock has declined by more than 40% in five years, and I wouldn't be surprised if it incurs even greater declines in the future. With too many question marks around the business, this is a stock I'd avoid right now, as it looks to be on the same path as Nike.
Disney uzavřel dohodu s Netflixem o licencování filmů a seriálů včetně „Ice Age“, „Percy Jackson and the Olympians“ a „Will Trent“. První dvě sezóny „Percy Jackson and the Olympians“ dorazí na Netflix globálně od 4. října na tři měsíce. Pět filmů „Ice Age“ bude na Netflixu také tři měsíce a vybrané tituly od Disney a Pixaru dorazí na Netflix globálně od začátku roku 2027.
Item 1 of 2 The Ice Age's Scrat and his Acorn balloon are carried during the 91st Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York, New York, U.S., November 23, 2017. REUTERS/Carlo Allegri
[1/2]The Ice Age's Scrat and his Acorn balloon are carried during the 91st Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York, New York, U.S., November 23, 2017. REUTERS/Carlo Allegri Purchase Licensing Rights, opens new tab
Oct 2 (Reuters) - Disney (DIS.N), opens new tab agreed to license a slate of movies and TV shows to Netflix (NFLX.O), opens new tab, including existing "Ice Age" films as well as "Percy Jackson and the Olympians" and "Will Trent" series, the companies said on Friday.
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The deal expands Netflix's access to Disney-owned content as the streaming platform broadens its library through licensing agreements, including a deal with AMC Global Media (AMCX.O), opens new tab in July to bring "The Walking Dead" series to its platform.
The first two seasons of Disney+ original series "Percy Jackson and the Olympians" will be available globally on Netflix from October 4 for three months.
The five "Ice Age" films will also begin streaming globally on Netflix for three months, ahead of the theatrical release of "Ice Age: Boiling Point" early next year.
The deal also includes a selection of Disney and Pixar films, including "Soul", "Elio" and "Raya and the Last Dragon", which will be available globally on Netflix from early 2027, with varying launch dates and regions.
Disney-branded titles largely remain exclusive to its streaming platforms and TV channels, as per the company.
Reporting by Akash Sriram and Angela Christy in Bengaluru; Editing by Vijay Kishore
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles., opens new tab
The Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS) shares are dropping Thursday. The latest pressure on Disney appears tied to recently reported layoffs, which can signal ongoing cost-cutting and restructuring efforts.
Walt Disney shares are sliding. What’s weighing on DIS shares? Disney Is Cutting Several Hundred Jobs in HR and TechnologyReuters reported Tuesday, citing a person familiar with the matter, that Disney plans to cut a few hundred jobs spanning its human resources and technology teams. The news lands during a stretch of notable turnover in Disney’s executive ranks under CEO Josh D’Amaro, who took the role in March.
These cuts aren’t isolated. Disney eliminated around 1,000 roles in April, several hundred more last year, and 7,000 positions in 2023 under then-CEO Bob Iger as part of a $5.5 billion cost-cutting push. The company’s global headcount stood near 231,000 heading into fiscal 2026.
BofA Sees “Underlying Positive Trends” Ahead of November EarningsDisney is set to report its fiscal fourth-quarter results on November 12. BofA Securities analyst Jessica Reif Ehrlich maintained a Buy rating and $125 price target this week, expecting a solid quarter helped by theme park attendance strength and two new cruise ships, though she sees the Entertainment segment staying weak given soft box office showings from Moana and The Dog Stars.
Looking ahead to fiscal 2027, Ehrlich described the year as having a “lot of moving parts,” with a lighter content slate creating a tougher setup in Entertainment, while Sports should benefit from the NFL Network deal and Super Bowl. She kept her revenue estimate at $105 billion and earnings at $7.52 per share, while raising her operating income projection to $20.8 billion from $20.7 billion.
Disney carries an overall Buy rating, with an average price target of $126 across 24 analysts. Guggenheim maintained Buy with a $120 target on Sept. 28, Wells Fargo raised its target to $132 on Aug. 6 and Argus Research maintained Buy with a $134 target the same day.
Disney’s Chart Shows a Stock Testing its Moving AveragesTechnically, Disney trades below its 20-day, 50-day, 100-day and 200-day averages, keeping recent rallies capped. Momentum remains soft, with MACD below its signal line.
Still, the 20-day average sits above the 50-day, and the 50-day remains above the 200-day following a golden cross in September, a mixed setup overall. Traders are watching $109.50 as resistance and $98 as support.
DIS Shares Are FallingDIS Price Action: Walt Disney shares were down 3.00% at $101.75 at the time of publication on Thursday, according to Benzinga Pro.
Bank of America ponechala pro Walt Disney doporučení „koupit“ a cílovou cenu 125 USD. Odhady pro fiskální rok 2027 drží téměř beze změny, i když čeká nerovnoměrný výkon segmentů.
Walt Disney Co (NYSE:DIS, XETRA:WDP) retained Bank of America's "buy" rating and $125 price target, as the broker largely maintained its financial year 2027 forecasts while anticipating uneven segment performance.
The broker kept revenue and earnings per share estimates broadly unchanged at $105 billion and $7.52, respectively, while raising operating income to $20.8 billion from $20.7 billion.
Underlying those forecasts, global theme park attendance remains positive, in contrast to competitors, while two new cruise ships and a 53rd week should support financial year 2026's fourth quarter.
In 2027, Experiences should benefit from New Year's Eve timing in the first quarter and Easter in the second, before tougher second-half comparisons against cruise additions and tariff refunds.
Entertainment faces weaker near-term revenue following disappointing theatrical performances from Moana and The Dog Stars, followed by a lighter release slate and higher content investment in 2027.
Alongside those investment needs, Bank of America noted press reports that Disney sees cost-cutting opportunities, with the broker expecting it to reinvest savings largely in direct-to-consumer services.
Sports offers another growth source, with the NFL Network acquisition and Super Bowl support in 2027, alongside multiyear opportunities in personalization, betting, and multiscreen viewing.
These opportunities underpin a "buy" case that also includes double-digit underlying earnings per share growth, accelerating parks growth and a refreshed senior management team.
Looking further ahead, Bank of America expects new park additions, cruise ships and direct-to-consumer services to drive growth from 2028.
More immediately, anticipation around Disney's 2027 outlook and its potential to accelerate growth will likely drive near-term share performance, the broker wrote.
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New Disney CEO Josh D’Amaro reportedly kicked off a new round of layoffs on Tuesday, cutting a couple of hundred workers from the company’s workforce, according to Deadline.
Most of the employees are in the company’s tech and HR divisions. The Walt Disney Company’s TV division and motion picture studio are not affected by the current staff reductions, according to the outlet.
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The Walt Disney Company is downsizing its workforce once again. Bloomberg via Getty Images The cuts are less severe than Disney’s April layoffs, which slashed 1,000 positions just weeks after D’Amaro succeeded Bob Iger as CEO. Disney also let go of a couple of hundred staffers from Pixar, National Geographic and ESPN over the summer.
Disney is a massive company that employed more than 231,000 people at the end of fiscal 2025. Of those staffers, 172,000 are in the United States and 59,000 employees are international.
Disney Chief Legal and Global Affairs Officer Horacio Gutierrez signalled the cuts in an internal Sept. 18 memo obtained by Deadline in which he warned of “hard choices” about “staffing investments” and the division becoming “a much smaller organization.”
Gutierrez said there would be a “transformation process” that includes “automating certain workflows by leveraging the latest technologies,” in an apparent reference to AI.
The Mouse House had offered employees at the director-level who are 50 or older an early retirement package in an attempt to cut down their workforce voluntarily.
New Disney CEO Josh D’Amaro reportedly kicked off a new round of layoffs on Tuesday. Getty Images for Disney D’Amaro and CFO Hugh Johnston also hinted at the layoffs in a letter to Disney shareholders in August, sharing that the company would “remain highly focused on reducing costs across the enterprise.”
“We remain highly focused on reducing costs across the enterprise to create incremental capacity to invest for growth and are evaluating a variety of levers, including reductions in labor and SG&A,” the execs wrote in the Aug. 5 letter. “We are mid-stream in this work and will provide future updates on our progress.”
Most of the employees are in the company’s tech and HR divisions. GC Images D’Amaro took over for Iger as Disney CEO in March.
He delivered a speech at the D23 Expo for the first time as CEO in August. D’Amaro spoke about the company’s ambition to keep creating memories linked with Disney.
“We’re not here waiting for the future. We’re building it. We’re actually building it right now,” he said. “We have new stories for you coming, experiences that will literally take your breath away, announcements that will make you lean forward and ask that person that’s sitting next to you, ‘Did you hear that? Can you believe they’re going to do that?'”
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Disney chystá v právním a vládním oddělení výrazné zmenšení a část zaměstnanců čekají dopady. Firma zároveň zvažuje širší snižování nákladů napříč společností.
Disney’s top lawyer warned staff of “hard choices” ahead as the House of Mouse’s legal and government affairs division prepares to become a “much smaller organization” while the entertainment giant mulls layoffs across other parts of the company.
Horacio Gutierrez, Disney’s chief legal and global affairs officer said in a memo the department would “start with a blank slate” as technology changes how legal and other professional work gets done, Deadline first reported.
“How should LGA reinvent itself to best serve the Disney of tomorrow?” Gutierrez wrote in the memo, using the acronym for his department.
Horacio Gutierrez, Disney’s chief legal and global affairs officer, told staff the company’s legal and government affairs division would become a “much smaller organization” as part of a broad restructuring. The Hollywood Reporter via Getty Images “To find the answer to that question, we are embarking on a transformation process that we are calling LGA 2.0,” he added.
Gutierrez reportedly warned employees the division, which numbers just under 1,000 staff around the world, would ultimately be smaller and that some workers would be affected.
“LGA will be a much smaller organization than it is today, and some of you will personally be affected by decisions we make in this process,” the legal eagle wrote.
“Obviously, this will require hard choices about where and how we deploy our resources and investments, including our staffing investments.”
The memo did not specify how many positions would be eliminated, or give a timetable for cuts.
The changes were “not a reflection on the strength of LGA or its people today,” Gutierrez wrote, calling the team “extraordinarily talented” and noting that many employees had served Disney for decades.
Disney has told investors it is evaluating labor reductions across the company as part of a broader push to cut costs and invest for growth. Getty Images But he said the professions inside LGA are being reshaped by technology and changing operating models.
“The reality is that the professions that comprise LGA — including legal, government relations, operations and others — are going through their own reinvention as technology reshapes how work gets done,” Gutierrez wrote.
The review will examine how the group is structured, delivers services, shares knowledge, collaborates and uses technology, according to the memo.
Deadline reported that Gutierrez also told staff the department would consider “automating certain workflows by leveraging the latest technologies,” along with self-service models, alternative legal providers, shared services and outsourcing.
The memo comes as Disney has already told investors it is looking to reduce labor costs more broadly as part of a companywide push to cut expenses and free up money for growth.
“We remain highly focused on reducing costs across the enterprise to create incremental capacity to invest for growth and are evaluating a variety of levers, including reductions in labor and [selling, general and administrative expenses],” Disney said in its Aug. 5 quarterly earnings release.
“We are mid-stream in this work and will provide future updates on our progress.”
Disney’s legal and global affairs chief said technology is reshaping how work gets done as the company weighs changes to staffing, structure and operations. Getty Images Chief Financial Officer Hugh Johnston reinforced that message during the company’s earnings call, saying Disney was looking at “meaningful reductions to cost, including labor and SG&A.”
The automation language reported in the memo comes as Disney has increasingly emphasized technology and artificial intelligence across its businesses.
In its Aug. 5 earnings report, Disney said it viewed emerging technologies as a “significant opportunity” and detailed uses of AI in its parks and Imagineering operations.
“With AI, it isn’t simply about efficiency,” Disney said in the earnings release.
“We use it first and foremost to enhance a creative process that will always be human-centered, artist-driven, and creator-led.”
Its latest earnings release, however, shows the company incurred $180 million in severance costs during the first nine months of fiscal 2026.
The house that Walt built has said the cost review remains underway and that it will provide investors with further updates as the work progresses.
Gutierrez joined Disney from Spotify in 2021 during Bob Chapek’s tenure as CEO and remained in the top legal job after Bob Iger returned to run the company the following year.
Gutierrez joined Disney from Spotify in 2021 during Bob Chapek’s tenure as CEO and remained in the top legal job after Bob Iger returned to run the company the following year. Getty Images Chapek recently resurfaced with a blistering account of his ouster, accusing Iger in a new memoir of working behind the scenes to undermine his leadership and engineering his removal less than three years after handpicking him as successor.
Chapek writes that he believes Iger played an “intentional and preconceived role” in ending his tenure, though he acknowledges he has no proof for some of his more incendiary suspicions about Iger’s motives.
Zee Entertainment požádala soud v Dillí o řízení pro pohrdání soudem proti JioStar, protože podle ní dál používal její chráněný obsah navzdory soudnímu zákazu. Případ má být znovu projednán v prosinci.
India's Zee Entertainment has asked the Delhi High Court to initiate contempt proceedings against Reliance-Disney joint venture JioStar, alleging it continued to use copyrighted content despite a court injunction, a legal filing shows.
The filing, dated September 21, escalates an ongoing copyright dispute between the companies. Zee alleges JioStar is guilty of "wilful disobedience" because it continued using Zee's music and songs in programmes broadcast on its platforms despite a court order barring such use.
JioStar, formed from the $8.5 billion merger of Reliance and Disney's Indian media assets in 2024, declined to comment. Zee did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The copyright case was heard on Friday. A source aware of the details of Friday's court hearing told Reuters the Delhi High Court asked JioStar for a response to Zee's latest allegations and the case will be heard next in December.
The lawsuit began in April when Zee sought $3 million in damages, citing 50 alleged copyright violations involving content from its music division.
In May, the Delhi High Court ordered JioStar not to "use, publish, broadcast, stream, upload" any of Zee's licensed works.
JioStar's lawyers have previously told the court the alleged infringements were "unintentional" and "purely residual in nature". The company said in May that it had removed a substantial volume of Zee content following the expiry of licensing agreements.
In its latest filing, Zee cited six instances between May and July that it said showed the continued use of its copyrighted works by JioStar.
JioStar is "illegally and actively exploiting" the works, Zee said in the filing.
The case is one of several copyright disputes highlighting increasing competition over content rights as India's streaming and broadcasting market consolidates.
JioStar, backed by billionaire Mukesh Ambani, is India's largest media and entertainment company. Zee, one of India's oldest broadcasters, is a smaller rival.
The Disney-Reliance joint venture has also previously launched a legal battle against Zee, alleging the unauthorised broadcast of popular Bollywood movies at a time when JioStar held the rights to the content.
Aktivistický investor tlačí Six Flags k prodeji, což by mohlo přepsat ocenění zábavních parků Disney. Akcie Six Flags jsou za poslední rok níže o 42,52 % a za poslední měsíc o 26,48 %.
An activist investor is pushing Six Flags toward a sale, and the price a buyer agrees to pay could quietly reshape how Wall Street values the most profitable corner of Disney's empire.
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An activist investor urged Six Flags (NYSE:FUN) to hire an investment bank and explore a sale, according to a newspaper report citing people familiar with the matter. The demand broke after the closing bell, so neither Six Flags nor Disney (NYSE:DIS | DIS Price Prediction) had a chance to react in Tuesday’s session, where Six Flags settled at $12.31 and Disney at $103.83.
Public theme park operators almost never change hands. Disney’s Experiences segment sits inside a media conglomerate that trades on a blended multiple. A negotiated deal for a pure-play regional operator would produce something the market has never had: a real dollar figure that a balance sheet was willing to pay per unit of park earnings. That number becomes a reference point for Disney’s most valuable business.
The ticker is FUN, carried over from the Cedar Fair era.
What Happened The activist is a JANA Partners-led group that includes Travis Kelce, which built its economic stake last autumn and had already pressed for a sale earlier this year.
The stated grievance writes itself. Second-quarter net loss attributable to Six Flags widened to $202.62 million from $99.65 million a year earlier, and net debt sits near $4.9 billion.
The board has committed to nothing. That distinction is the entire point of this column.
Why a Sale Would Reprice the Sector Theme parks are capital-intensive assets where maintenance spending is not optional. Reported operating income overstates the cash a buyer actually gets.
A leveraged operator and an unleveraged one owning similar rides trade at very different multiples. Six Flags currently trades at an EV/EBITDA of 14x.
Disney’s parks live inside a conglomerate, so the market never quotes them on their own cash flow.
A negotiated transaction changes that. It hands every analyst covering Disney a fresh comparable they cannot ignore.
Sizing the Read-Through to Disney Experiences generated $9.97 billion of revenue in fiscal Q3, up 10%, with operating income of $3.02 billion, up 20%. That is the profit engine while the rest of the company argues about streaming.
Domestic per-capita spending rose 4%, which matters more for margin than raw attendance.
Disney runs a global resort network with hotels, cruise ships, and intellectual property that drives repeat visits. Six Flags runs regional parks with seasonal attendance and a leveraged balance sheet. A regional park multiple would serve as a floor for Disney’s assets, not a direct read-across.
A distressed seller sets a low price. Six Flags is down 42.52% over one year and 26.48% over the last month. If the activist forces a sale at a depressed valuation, the comparable prints cheap and weakens the sum-of-the-parts argument for Disney.
The trigger is a confirmed banker mandate or a disclosed approach from a buyer. Until then, this remains only a demand.
Bull and Bear Case for DIS Stock Bull case: parks are producing outsized segment profit and growing at double digits, the stock is down on the year, and any process that forces investors to value park assets explicitly favors the company that owns the best ones.
Analysts carry a $127.22 price target on Disney against the current $103.83. The forward P/E of 14x is not demanding for a business generating this kind of Experiences growth.
Bear case: a distressed comparable prints a low multiple, consumer discretionary travel spend is exactly what a higher-rate environment squeezes, and none of this changes Disney’s actual earnings next quarter.
The deciding variable is the price a buyer is ultimately willing to pay. Watch Six Flags’ next 8-K.
Contact [email protected] for any questions or corrections.
Disney plánuje během tří let zhruba ztrojnásobit počet lokálních originálních seriálů, aby přilákal nové uživatele a snížil míru odchodů. Ve 3Q FY26 výnosy Entertainment SVOD vzrostly o 11 % a provozní marže dosáhla 13 %.
Key Takeaways Disney plans to roughly triple local original series over three years to add users and reduce churn.Entertainment SVOD revenues rose 11% in Q3 FY26, while operating margin reached 13%.Disney churn declined across domestic and international services in the reported quarter. The Walt Disney Company (DIS - Free Report) is strengthening its international streaming business, creating a potential path to challenge Netflix (NFLX - Free Report) and Amazon (AMZN - Free Report) through local content, improved engagement and a broader Disney+ ecosystem. Disney's early international programming results are encouraging, with Rivals Season 2 becoming the biggest EMEA original premiere in the U.K. and Ireland, while The Perfect Crown became the most-watched Korean premiere on Disney+ globally. Dear Killer Nannies was the most-viewed LATAM original premiere globally on Disney+ over the past year. Disney plans to roughly triple its local original series over the next three years to drive new international users and reduce churn.
The strategy is gaining support from improving streaming economics. Entertainment SVOD revenues increased 11% year over year in the third quarter of fiscal 2026, while subscription revenues rose 15%, and Entertainment SVOD operating margin reached 13%. Disney+ also recorded a decline in churn across its domestic and international services during the reported quarter.
The key challenge is balancing international growth with content investment and retention. Disney must consistently produce locally relevant programming while keeping users engaged between major tentpole releases.
Overall, Disney's expanding local-content slate, improving churn and stronger SVOD profitability provide a meaningful foundation to challenge NFLX and AMZN in international streaming. The September 2026 appointment of Adam Smith to lead Disney's global entertainment SVOD business further underscores the strategic importance of its streaming operations.
How Are Disney’s Global Streaming Rivals Positioned?Amazon is strengthening its international streaming position through Prime Video’s combination of original content, third-party titles and live sports. In the second quarter of 2026, Amazon reported that NBA viewership in Europe more than doubled year over year, reaching its highest average viewership on record. Amazon is also expanding Prime Video advertising and sports programming, giving Amazon a broader global streaming proposition that competes with Disney.
Netflix is competing through its extensive global reach, localized programming and growing live-event strategy. Netflix says it operates in more than 190 countries, while regional programming such as South Africa’s The Polygamist demonstrates its ability to develop and distribute local hits globally. Netflix also plans to expand regional live events, reinforcing Netflix’s international streaming proposition against Disney.
DIS’ Price Performance, Valuation & EstimatesShares of Disney are down 8.7% year to date compared with respective declines of 12.9% and 12.5% for the Zacks Consumer Discretionary sector and Media Conglomerates industry.
DIS’ YTD Price Performance
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
Disney trades at a trailing 12-month P/S ratio of 1.69X, higher than the industry's 1.23X. DIS carries a Value Score of C.
DIS’ Valuation
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
The Zacks Consensus Estimate projects Disney’s fiscal 2026 earnings at $6.91 per share, up 16.5% year over year, with estimates revised higher over the past 30 and 60 days.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
DIS stock currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
Disney zvýší ceny předplatného Disney+ a Hulu, včetně bezreklamního Disney+ o 2,50 USD, tedy o 13 %, na 21,49 USD měsíčně. Zdraží i bezreklamní Hulu a některé balíčky.
Disney (DIS.N) will raise prices on several streaming subscriptions, including its flagship ad-free Disney+ plan, Bloomberg News reported on Wednesday, citing people familiar with the matter.
Major streaming platforms have steadily increased subscription prices and rolled out advertising-backed plans as they look to drive revenue growth, offset rising content costs and improve the profitability of their digital businesses.
The monthly price of ad-free Disney+ will rise by $2.50, or 13%, to $21.49, according to the report. Disney is expected to begin notifying customers of the changes as early as Wednesday.
The price of Hulu without advertising will also increase by $2.50 per month, while the monthly cost of an ad-free Disney+ and Hulu bundle will rise by $2 to $21.99, Bloomberg reported.
Disney did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.
The company will also raise the price of standalone ad-supported Disney+ and Hulu subscriptions by 50 cents to $12.49 a month, Bloomberg said. The price of the ad-supported Disney+ and Hulu bundle will remain unchanged at $12.99 per month.
Last week, Disney named Karandeep Anand its first chief technology officer and elevated Adam Smith to lead its streaming business, as the company sharpens its focus on Disney+, Hulu and technology across its entertainment operations.
Disney jmenovala Karandeepa Ananda svým prvním technologickým ředitelem. Bývalý CEO Character.AI nastoupí 2. října a povede technologie, AI platformy i inženýrství.
Walt Disney (DIS.N) on Friday named outsider Karandeep Anand its first chief technology officer, as AI and sweeping industry consolidation disrupt the media landscape.
Anand, who most recently served as CEO of generative AI chatbot service Character.AI, will join Disney effective October 2.
He will report directly to CEO Josh D'Amaro, the theme parks veteran who took the reins from Bob Iger in March.
A number of Character.AI's technical staff are expected to follow Anand to Disney, where he will oversee enterprise technology, AI platforms and engineering across the company's business segments.
Character.AI has been under legal scrutiny, including a May lawsuit over chatbot impersonation of doctors, a settlement of a wrongful-death suit in January tied to a teen's suicide and a Disney cease-and-desist over unauthorized use of its characters in September 2025.
Before Character.AI, Anand was president and chief product officer at fintech company Brex. He also held senior roles at Meta's (META.O) Facebook and spent 15 years at Microsoft (MSFT.O), where he helped build the Azure platform.
On Thursday, Disney named insider Adam Smith chairman of its streaming business and created a new television franchise role for Joe Earley, sharpening focus on its direct-to-consumer platforms such as Disney+ and Hulu.
Disney za prvních devět měsíců fiskálního roku snížil volný peněžní tok o 24 % na 5,74 mld. USD kvůli vyšším investicím do parků, resortů a obsahu. Ve 3. čtvrtletí ale volný peněžní tok stoupl o 63 % na 3,07 mld. USD a tržby segmentu Experiences vzrostly o 10 %.
Key Takeaways Disney's nine-month free cash flow fell 24% to $5.74B as parks, resorts and other property investment rose.Disney expects about $9B in FY26 capital spending and roughly $24B in produced and licensed content.Q3 free cash flow rose 63%, while Experiences revenues gained 10% and operating income climbed 20%. The Walt Disney Company (DIS - Free Report) is facing free cash flow pressure as higher investment in its Experiences business and other growth initiatives increases cash outflows. The company generated $12.5 billion of operating cash flow in the first nine months of fiscal 2026, down from $13.6 billion a year ago, while investments in parks, resorts and other property rose to $6.78 billion from $6.11 billion. As a result, free cash flow fell 24% to $5.74 billion.
The investment burden is likely to remain elevated. Disney expects fiscal 2026 capital expenditures of approximately $9 billion, up from $8 billion in fiscal 2025, primarily due to theme park and resort expansion and new attractions. The company is also targeting about $24 billion of produced and licensed content spending, including sports rights, versus $23 billion last year.
However, these investments are already supporting growth. Third-quarter 2026 results show improving cash generation alongside this investment. During the period, free cash flow increased 63% year over year to $3.07 billion, while Experiences revenues gained 10% and operating income rose 20%.
Disney’s strong theatrical pipeline also supports content investment, with its 2026 global box office surpassing $4 billion and Toy Story 5 exceeding $1.1 billion in September. The company also has a fall slate that includes Avengers Endgame: Encore, Whalefall and other releases.
Thus, while elevated investment is pressuring nine-month free cash flow, improving quarterly cash generation, Experiences growth and strong theatrical performance suggest Disney’s spending is creating opportunities for higher future revenue and downstream monetization.
How Disney’s Streaming Rivals Are Investing for GrowthNetflix (NFLX - Free Report) continues expanding its entertainment ecosystem through increased content spending, live programming and newer formats such as video podcasts and cloud games. NFLX expects content expense to rise about 10% in 2026, with investments designed to drive acquisition, retention and advertising monetization. This puts NFLX directly in Disney’s competitive arena as DIS weighs higher investment against free cash flow pressure.
Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD - Free Report) is stepping up investment in streaming through the global expansion of HBO Max, with higher international content and marketing costs supporting subscriber growth. In the second quarter of 2026, streaming revenues increased 10% year over year to $3.08 billion, while streaming adjusted EBITDA rose 63% to $512 million. This puts WBD in direct competition with Disney for streaming audiences while highlighting the potential payoff from higher content investment.
DIS’ Price Performance, Valuation & EstimatesDisney shares have dropped 8.3% over the past year compared with a 18.4% fall in the Zacks Consumer Discretionary sector.
DIS’ One-Year Price Performance
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
Disney trades at a forward 12-month P/E ratio of 14.29 compared to the Media Conglomerates industry's multiple of 15.78. DIS carries a Value Score of C.
DIS’ Valuation
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Disney's fiscal 2026 earnings is pegged at $6.91 per share, up by 3 cents over the past 30 days. The company reported earnings of $5.93 per share in fiscal 2025.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
DIS stock currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
Disney uvedl, že Disney+ se má stát širším ekosystémem pro fanoušky, a plánuje do něj více propojit obsah, produkty, parky i cruise služby. Ve čtvrtletí marže streamingu vzrostla na 13 %.
Disney Sets Up for a Magical Year in 2027Walt Disney NYSE: DIS Chief Financial Officer Hugh Johnston outlined the company’s priorities around intellectual property investment, technology, streaming engagement and experiences growth during a Goldman Sachs conference appearance.
Johnston said Disney has “very good momentum” and is operating around three priorities articulated by CEO Josh: continuing to invest in intellectual property, embracing technology to support product creation and monetization, and building a more unified relationship with consumers through a “one Disney” model.
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3 Stocks Standing Out and 2 Losing Momentum as the Tech Rally Cracks“We’re trying to sort of create that single relationship with consumers,” Johnston said, adding that the effort is intended to reduce friction for customers and improve monetization over time.
Disney+ ecosystem and streaming strategy Johnston described Disney+ as both a streaming service and a potential integrated ecosystem for fans. The company plans to provide more details in spring 2027, but he said the platform could increasingly incorporate consumer products, parks and cruises, talent and IP interactions, and potentially gaming.
Fairy Dust Works: Disney's Stock Price Rises as Business AcceleratesThe objective is to increase frequency of use, which Johnston said supports retention and lowers subscriber churn. He said Disney has already made progress integrating Hulu and Disney+ profiles into a “one fan, one account” ecosystem.
Additional product developments could include live television within the Disney+ app, deeper integration of Hulu add-ons and bundles, enhanced recommendation technology and a cleaner user interface. Johnston said investors should monitor fundamental streaming measures including churn, retention and, ultimately, revenue growth.
Disney is also pursuing a partnership with TikTok that Johnston said could attract younger, more interactive consumers to Disney+. He said the relationship could offer a top-of-funnel opportunity, support a creator ambassador program and help Disney expand its presence in vertical mobile video.
Margins, advertising and content investment Johnston said Disney+ moved from losing “a couple of billion” dollars annually a few years ago to reaching a 13% margin in the most recent quarter. He said the company expects to finish the year with double-digit margins.
Rather than prioritizing additional margin expansion above all else, Disney intends to focus on revenue growth and growth in absolute operating-income dollars. Johnston said the company plans to invest more in content, particularly in international television programming, while maintaining double-digit streaming margins.
International content is intended to help sustain engagement between major franchise releases, he said. Johnston noted that international penetration remains below that of the market leader and said Disney has seen encouraging early results from shows in the United Kingdom and Korea. The company plans to use a mix of licensing and internally produced content, targeted by market and content type.
Disney also plans to introduce a free ad-supported streaming offering, or FAST channels. Johnston said the service could bring more price-sensitive consumers into Disney’s ecosystem, expand available advertising inventory and offer an alternative for subscribers considering cancellation. He said Disney could adjust the programming if it sees cannibalization of its paid service.
On advertising, Johnston said U.S. subscription-video-on-demand pricing has faced pressure from an increase in supply and that some softness is expected to continue in the fourth quarter. However, he characterized the overall advertising environment as healthy, citing strong demand for live sports. Technology, artificial intelligence, political and healthcare advertisers have been relatively strong, while consumer packaged goods, restaurants and telecommunications have been softer, he said.
Film slate, parks and cruises Johnston said Disney is encouraged by its film slate and cited strong demand for “Avengers: Doomsday,” which he said had generated $50 million in presales three months ahead of its December release. He also pointed to upcoming titles including “Bluey,” “Incredibles 3,” “Frozen 3” and another Avengers film in 2028.
He said successful films support Disney’s broader flywheel across consumer products, streaming, parks and cruises. Johnston cited “Toy Story 5” as an example, saying the film supported consumer-products growth, streaming performance and experiences featuring the franchise.
In domestic parks, Johnston said attendance rose 3% year over year in the third quarter. International visitation to U.S. parks remained somewhat lower, though it improved from the second quarter, while Disney’s marketing and promotions targeted domestic guests.
The company continues to invest in park capacity and new attractions, including Tropical Americas at Animal Kingdom, Monstropolis at Hollywood Studios, an Avengers Campus expansion and new cruise ships. Johnston said these investments are designed to support both attendance and per-capita spending by adding capacity and creating additional guest value.
He said per-capita growth has been driven more by guest mix and optional premium offerings, such as Lightning Lane, VIP tours and higher-end restaurants, than by ticket-price increases. Disney is also focused on keeping pricing accessible for young families during lower-demand periods, he said.
EPS outlook and capital allocation Johnston reiterated Disney’s outlook for 12% underlying earnings-per-share growth this year and another year of double-digit underlying growth in fiscal 2027. He identified experiences and entertainment, including streaming, as the principal growth drivers, saying they represent roughly 85% of company earnings.
For ESPN, Johnston said the direct-to-consumer product is performing in line with expectations and that the company is largely secured on its core sports-rights portfolio through 2029 or 2030. He said Disney has remained disciplined in rights negotiations, deciding that Formula 1 and wrestling had become too expensive.
Looking ahead, Johnston said Disney aims to pair tighter cost management with reinvestment in growth opportunities. “My priorities are basically to enable that virtuous circle of reducing costs, reinvestment in the business, driving growth, creating operating leverage, and then reducing cost again,” he said.
About Walt Disney (NYSE:DIS)The Walt Disney Company NYSE: DIS is a global entertainment and media company that develops, produces and distributes content across film, television and streaming platforms. Its portfolio includes Disney, Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars, National Geographic and other brands, with content distributed through theatrical releases, television networks and direct-to-consumer services such as Disney+, Hulu and ESPN's streaming offerings.
Disney also operates sports media businesses, including ESPN, and owns and manages theme parks, resorts, cruise lines and other location-based entertainment experiences.
This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to [email protected].
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Disney rozšiřuje kapacity parků a plaveb v rámci desetiletého plánu za 60 mld. USD; ve fiskálním 3. čtvrtletí 2026 výnosy segmentu Experiences vzrostly o 10 % a provozní zisk o 20 %.
Key Takeaways Disney is expanding parks and cruise capacity under its $60B, 10-year Experiences investment plan.Fiscal Q3 Experiences revenues rose 10% and operating income 20%, with U.S. attendance up 3%.Weak Asia attendance and about $9B in fiscal 2026 capex make execution and ROIC key investor watchpoints. The Walt Disney Company (DIS - Free Report) is expanding its parks pipeline to add capacity, strengthen guest spending and create a longer runway for Experiences growth. Disney is several years into its $60 billion, 10-year investment plan for Parks, Experiences and Products, with spending focused on theme park and resort expansion, new attractions and cruise capacity. The strategy is already showing results, as Experiences revenues increased 10% year over year in the fiscal third quarter of 2026, while operating income jumped 20%. The pipeline includes major attractions at Disney's U.S. parks, including Villains Land in Orlando and the Avengers Campus expansion in Anaheim, along with additional cruise capacity.
The expansion offers multiple avenues for growth. Domestic attendance increased 3% in the quarter, while per-capita guest spending rose 4%, showing Disney can benefit from both higher visitation and greater spending per visitor. New attractions and lands can also generate additional revenues from admissions, resorts, food and beverages, merchandise and other guest spending. Cruise expansion adds another capacity-driven growth opportunity within Experiences. Importantly, management expects attractive returns from the investment program, making execution and ROIC key measures for investors.
However, international attendance remains a key risk, particularly in Shanghai and Hong Kong, where weaker consumer conditions are weighing on demand. Large capital requirements are another concern, as the company expects fiscal 2026 capital expenditures of approximately $9 billion, primarily reflecting higher Experiences spending on parks, resorts and new attractions.
Overall, ongoing park expansion projects could accelerate Disney's long-term growth, provided the new capacity ensures a sufficient influx of visitors and spending to generate attractive returns on invested capital.
Competitors Challenging DIS in Theme ParksDisney is facing competition as major U.S. operators expand their attractive facilities, invest in new experiences, and strive to build closer engagement with visitors.
Comcast (CMCSA - Free Report) is strengthening its position in the theme park market through Universal’s expanding parks portfolio. Epic Universe continues to perform well, while Universal Kids Resort is open in Frisco and its U.K. park is moving toward construction. Comcast is pursuing long-term parks growth through attractive brands, locations and continued investment in attractions and experiences.
Six Flags Entertainment (FUN - Free Report) is expanding its theme park offering through a growing pipeline of attractions and experiences. Its 2026 lineup includes multiple new attractions, while construction is underway on several 2027 projects. Six Flags is also broadening membership and cross-park visitation, aiming to increase guest engagement, repeat visits and long-term returns from its park investments.
DIS’s Price Performance, Valuation & EstimatesDisney shares have declined 7.5% year to date compared with a 9.7% drop in the Zacks Consumer Discretionary sector.
DIS’s YTD Price Performance
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
Disney trades at a forward 12-month P/S ratio of 1.72 compared to the Media Conglomerates industry's multiple of 1.24. DIS carries a Value Score of B.
DIS’s Valuation
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for DIS’ 2026 revenues is pegged at $101.38 billion, indicating 7.36% year-over-year growth. The consensus mark for earnings is pegged at $6.91 per share, indicating an upward revision over the past 30 days and indicating 16.53% year-over-year growth.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
DIS stock currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
The U.S. Federal Communications Commission on Thursday asked a federal judge to toss out Disney's (DIS.N) lawsuit seeking to block the agency's early review of licenses for the entertainment giant’s eight company-owned ABC stations.
The FCC said if Disney were successful, it would prevent the commission from analyzing evidence in its ongoing investigation and hobble the agency's "efforts to investigate and resolve serious allegations that Disney has engaged in unlawful discrimination."
The case is a test of free speech rights for broadcasters. President Donald Trump has called repeatedly for ABC to lose its licenses over programming he dislikes.
FCC Chair Brendan Carr ordered the early reviews in April, even though the stations' license renewals were not scheduled to be considered before October 2028. The FCC had not ordered an early review in more than 50 years before April. Carr has said he has not made a decision on whether to refer Disney's licenses for a hearing.
The reviews were ordered a day after Trump urged ABC to fire late-night host Jimmy Kimmel.
U.S. District Judge Loren AliKhan in Washington has set an October 5 hearing on the lawsuit. The FCC has agreed to provide at least 48 hours' notice before issuing an order to refer Disney's ABC licenses for a hearing.
Trump has repeatedly urged broadcasters to drop comedy or news programs he dislikes or which have joked about or criticized him or his administration. He has also called on the FCC to strip stations of licenses.
On Sunday, Trump called for the FCC to rebuke or punish Comcast-owned (CMCSA.O) NBC's White House correspondent Kristen Welker after she noted that the Republican president's success in endorsing political candidates has been mixed. Carr has not ruled out subjecting Comcast's NBC licenses to an early review.
Broadcast stations need FCC licenses to use public airwaves. While license revocations are extremely rare, critics say the threat of losing a license can pressure broadcasters and raise concerns about government interference in editorial and programming decisions. Networks have broad First Amendment protections over programming choices.
Disney said in its suit the FCC was seeking to coerce and retaliate against "a network that refuses to bow to the administration's demands," calling the agency's actions an "extraordinary assault on free speech."
Disney spustí později v roce 2027 program nákupu akcií pro zaměstnance a příští rok změní většinu zdravotních plánů. Současné krytí se nebude automaticky prodlužovat a většina zaměstnanců se bude muset znovu zapsat.
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Disney CEO Josh D'Amaro's company has unveiled a new employee stock purchase program. Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images; Illustration by Cheng Xin/Getty Images Disney is shaking up its employee benefits by launching a stock purchase program and switching up its health insurance plans.
Eric Chaisson, Disney's EVP of total rewards and employee services, told US-based employees about the changes in a Wednesday memo.
"We're planning to introduce an Employee Stock Purchase Plan later in 2027, pending approvals, giving eligible employees the opportunity to build company ownership by purchasing Disney stock," Chaisson said in an email, which was viewed by Business Insider.
Details of the stock purchase plan "are still being finalized," Chaisson said, including who's eligible and how the program will be designed.
The new stock program could be a way for Disney to encourage retention and boost morale after multiple rounds of layoffs this year. It could also help Disney staffers make more money without the company giving raises. However, Disney employees won't strike it rich if the stock continues to underperform the market.
Why Disney is more expensive than ever
CEO Josh D'Amaro's company had a major round of cuts in April and reduced stock-based compensation for some tech staffers shortly after. Disney's ESPN let go of additional staffers in July, and some staffers in other parts of the company, including Pixar, were also affected.
Two software engineers previously told Business Insider that their long-term incentive awards, which are restricted stock units vesting every six months for three years, were cut from 35% of their base salary to 25%.
Disney is also changing "most medical plans" next year, Chaisson said, which will affect employee contributions. However, Disney isn't switching health insurers, a person familiar with the updates said.
"Unlike in past years, your current coverage will not automatically roll over: nearly all employees will need to actively choose their plans and re-enroll any dependents for 2027," Chaisson said. He added that Disney is "encouraging everyone to take a fresh look at their options and choose what works best for them and their families."
When asked for comment, Disney spokesperson said: "Like a growing number of large employers, we're making measured adjustments to our employee benefits in response to rising healthcare costs nationwide."
The spokesperson said Disney would share more details about these changes with staffers in the coming months and said the company is "committed to providing our employees with a comprehensive package of high-quality coverage and other benefits that support their total health and well-being."
Businesses across the US are grappling with surging healthcare costs. Employers' healthcare expenses are expected to rise 9.5% next year, insurance brokerage giant Aon said on Thursday.
Disney is also "evolving" well-being programs and consolidating some "to create a more consistent and streamlined experience," Chaisson said. He added that the company is doubling the number of counseling sessions available in its Employee Assistance Program.
Disney at a discountDisney's stock purchase plan announcement comes amid a yearslong share slump. Shares are up over 15% from their late-July low but are down 8% in the past year and 38% in the last five years.
Stock purchase programs let employees buy their firm's shares at a discount, usually about 15% below the market rate, said Josh Bersin, who runs the HR consulting firm The Josh Bersin Company.
That contrasts with stock-based compensation programs, which give eligible employees shares at no charge. Employees must stay at the company for a certain amount of time to collect their shares.
Stock-based compensation can be a highly effective retention tool, especially for staffers at hot companies like OpenAI or Anthropic, Bersin said. But when a stock doesn't move much, like in Disney's case, employees with unvested shares might be less reluctant to leave.
Letting employees buy shares at a discount can be "a better way of managing benefits when the stock is not going up a lot," Bersin said, since they'll profit unless shares tank more than the employee discount.
"They end up with employees who are more committed and feel like owners," Bersin said.
Bill Castellano, a professor of human resource management at Rutgers University, said that an employee stock purchase plan is "much broader based" than stock-based compensation, which is usually reserved for managers or high-ranking staffers.
This new program could be a way for Disney to extend an olive branch to employees and boost morale, given that its April move to cut stock-based compensation "can send a pretty negative signal," Castellano said.
One Disney software engineer said they were "totally stoked" to join the stock purchase program.
Another software engineer was less enthused, saying their level of interest would depend on the program's terms.
Shares acquired through these programs would be taxed at the same rate as ordinary income unless they were held for more than a year.
"The tax complexity is such that it would be beneficial to someone who holds and feels the company is a long-term prospect for growth," the second software engineer said. "It doesn't seem like an easy win."
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ABC a Disney žalují Trumpovu administrativu a FCC kvůli údajným odvetným krokům a snaze potrestat stanici za její zpravodajství. Žádají soud, aby zablokoval případné odebrání vysílacích licencí.
ToplineABC filed a lawsuit Tuesday morning against the Trump administration and its Federal Communications Commission for allegedly violating the network’s free speech and waging a “retaliatory campaign” against it, after FCC head Brendan Carr and President Donald Trump have repeatedly railed against the network and threatened its broadcast licenses.
The ABC west headquarters is seen on May 3 in Burbank, Calif.
Los Angeles Times via Getty Images
Key FactsABC and parent company Disney filed a lawsuit against the FCC and its commissioners in federal court in Washington, D.C., which alleges the Trump administration is trying to “punish Plaintiffs for their editorial judgments and coverage of the current administration.”
Carr has threatened the FCC could suspend broadcast licenses for ABC affiliates across the country—something that Trump has long pushed for—and ABC wants the court to block the FCC from doing so and rule that the move is a retaliatory attack against the network.
The White House has particularly taken issue with ABC’s “Jimmy Kimmel Live” and “The View” and their criticism of the president, with Trump also slamming the network and NBC for not airing his July 16 speech and saying it should warrant “a revocation of their licenses.”
Carr has publicly threatened he could revoke ABC and other networks’ broadcast licenses as Trump has demanded, telling the FT in May about the possibility the FCC could pull ABC affiliates off the air: “If you didn’t take us seriously, now you should.”
The Trump administration “has steadily increased the pressure on ABC,” the network argues in its lawsuit, alleging the government is reviewing the affiliates’ broadcast licenses years ahead of schedule, which suggests the true purpose of the review is “coercing and retaliating against a network that refuses to bow to the Administration’s demands.”
The White House and FCC have not yet responded to requests for comment.
Crucial Quote“Acting through the Federal Communications Commission, the Administration has waged a retaliatory campaign against ABC for a single reason: it disapproves of what ABC broadcasts,” the lawsuit alleges. It goes on to allege if the administration accomplishes its goal of revoking ABC’s broadcast licenses, “the message to every media company in the country will be unmistakable: tell only the stories the Administration deems favorable, or face the coercive machinery of the federal government. In such a world, the press could in no way be described as free.”
What to Watch forABC’s lawsuit notes the FCC could start the formal process to adjudicate the network’s broadcast licenses “any day now,” after previously asking for formal public comment on the issue. The network argued Tuesday that if it decides to review the licenses, it’s likely that “the only outcomes on the table are adverse to Plaintiffs”—whether that’s pulling networks off the air entirely, or “intentionally prolong[ing] the adjudicative process, miring ABC in years of costly litigation.” The lawsuit asks for the court to hold a “speedy hearing” and block the FCC from moving forward with license renewal proceedings while the litigation proceeds.
Surprising FactABC notes in its lawsuit that even Republican lawmakers allied with Trump have publicly opposed the Trump administration’s public threats against the network. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, has said the FCC is acting like a “mafioso” by threatening ABC’s licenses, while Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., said at a hearing earlier this month, “Sometimes the FCC scares me right now.” The GOP senator added, “I don’t like some of the stuff that is said on television, but what business is it of the FCC?”
FCC’s Actions Against ABC, ExplainedPrior to Tuesday’s lawsuit, ABC alleges the FCC has taken several steps to carry out its alleged “retaliatory campaign,” including reviving a lawsuit against an ABC affiliate that had previously been dropped. Carr notified ABC in March 2025 he had requested an investigation into whether ABC and Disney had violated “FCC equal employment opportunity regulations by promoting invidious forms of DEI discrimination,” citing the company’s diversity efforts, and has repeatedly issued “voluminous requests” for information that are allegedly “unheard of in modern FCC practice.” The agency is separately investigating “The View” for allegedly violating requirements for networks to give equal time to competing political candidates, despite ABC arguing the program has long qualified for an exemption for “bona fide news interview” programs under that rule. That has resulted in ABC deciding not to bring on any political candidates in recent months, it alleged, for fear of the consequences that could arise. In April, the FCC then demanded ABC file early renewal applications for its affiliates, despite their renewal windows still being years away, and gave it only 30 days to prepare the applications, rather than the months the network is typically afforded. That request violates federal law and FCC regulations, ABC alleges.
What Have Trump And Brendan Carr Said About ABC?Trump has long railed against networks that are critical to him and suggested their licenses should be taken away, saying at a 2020 campaign rally, “I keep saying if they’re reporting fake news, how come they can keep getting a license?” The president continued to attack ABC and other networks in the run-up to the 2024 election, particularly attacking ABC for its questions and fact-checking during a presidential debate and suggesting without evidence that it sent questions ahead of time to former Vice President Kamala Harris. If the network “did give the questions to Kamala, ABC’s license should be TERMINATED,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. His attacks have continued into his second term, with Trump repeatedly railing against ABC on Truth Social. After ABC News Chief Correspondent Mary Bruce asked him about releasing the Epstein files in a November 2025 interview, Trump also decried Bruce as a “terrible person” and said, “I think the license should be taken away from ABC because your news is so fake. As FCC commissioner, Carr has repeatedly echoed Trump’s rhetoric about potentially pulling networks’ licenses, and particularly took aim at ABC after late night host Jimmy Kimmel made comments about the death of Charlie Kirk, which resulted in the network briefly taking Kimmel’s show off the air. “We can do this the easy way or the hard way. These companies can find ways to take action on Kimmel, or there is going to be additional work for the FCC ahead,” Carr said on a podcast before Kimmel’s show was temporarily suspended.
Key BackgroundABC’s lawsuit against the FCC comes after the network previously reached a controversial settlement with Trump, paying $15 million towards Trump’s presidential library. The president sued the network for comments George Stephanopoulos made that inaccurately suggested Trump had been found liable for raping writer E. Jean Carroll. (He was found liable for defamation and sexual abuse, but not rape.) Trump has long railed against the media and so-called “fake news,” and has launched a series of legal challenges against media outlets in recent months, including against the BBC, CNN, CBS and New York Times. ABC is the first network that has been squarely targeted by the FCC, however, despite Trump also attacking coverage against him on other networks.
Further ReadingTrump Threatens ABC, NBC Broadcast Licenses Over Not Airing His Speech Live (Forbes)
FCC Launches Review Of 8 ABC Stations’ Licenses After Kimmel’s Melania Trump Joke (Forbes)
ABC Accuses Government Of Alleged First Amendment Violations For Political Coverage (Forbes)
Disney plánuje během deseti let investovat 60 miliard USD do parků a zaměřuje se na fanoušky. Současně vrací do atrakcí oblíbené prvky, jako je yeti z Expedition Everest, Figment a Tomorrowland.
It's not everyday that a live crowd goes wild for an animatronic yeti.
But the audience at Disney's D23 Expo isn't just any old crowd, and its superfans are central to Disney's strategic parks investments — some $60 billion planned over a decade.
"We are bringing the yeti back to life," Thomas Mazloum, chairman of Disney Experiences, announced to 12,000 Disney parks fans Saturday night during the division's D23 showcase in Anaheim, California.
The repair he was referencing is within the Expedition Everest attraction at Walt Disney World's Animal Kingdom theme park. Since 2006, the ride's yeti has been stationary. At the time the figure was unveiled it was the largest and most complex audio-animatronic that Walt Disney Imagineering had ever built. But after only a few months, it broke.
Its location within the finished ride made it difficult to fix, so Imagineers placed the machine in "B-mode," in which a strobe-light effect was used to give the illusion of movement. The broken animatronic has since become affectionately known as "Disco Yeti." Now, it's getting a second life.
Mazloum, who became parks chief after Josh D'Amaro was appointed as Disney CEO, announced the yeti repair — as well as the return of fan-favorite characters Dreamfinder and Figment to EPCOT in Florida and an overhaul of Tomorrowland in California — to some of Disney's most ardent fans on Saturday.
It's a signal of where the company plans to put its focus for the blockbuster Disney Experiences unit, made up of theme parks, cruise lines and consumer goods sales. As Disney expands its reach, it will need to lean on its most loyal attendees and biggest spenders to counter macroeconomic uncertainties and challenging travel trends.
"It may not sound like a big thing, but something like the Yeti or Figment or really being serious about Tomorrowland, they mean a lot to people because they grew up with these stories," Mazloum told CNBC.
"They're small, they're immediate, but they're meaningful," he added.
A balancing actFor Mazloum, the focus of his tenure as head of Disney's experiences division will be about balancing the company's massive expansion plans — new lands and area overhauls based on popular intellectual property — meant to attract the less frequent out-of-state and international visitors with more targeted updates and upgrades that annual passholders and more regular attendees want to see.
"Our job is to listen carefully and then find the way to harmonize the different needs and wants," he said.
"The simplest way to frame it is: I'm really focused on making sure we put our fans and the consumer and the guests into the center of our decision-making," he added.
Mazloum said these efforts are already paying off, touting the company's recent fiscal third-quarter earnings report in which the experiences division posted nearly $10 billion in revenue, a 10% jump from the same quarter a year prior and a quarterly record.
"I believe the results are at the end of doing something right at the beginning, and that is really putting the fans in the center of our attention," he said. "That's why, despite some, you know, other companies reporting different results, we're doing extremely well in Florida. We're doing very well here in California, because we've listened carefully and we've really responded to the right consumer at the right time."
Last month, rival Comcast reported lags in theme park attendance, particularly in Orlando, Florida. And yet, at Disney, domestic park attendance was up 3% and guest spending rose 4%.
The company attributed strong attendance to its Cool Kids Summer promotion, which features kid-focused character meet-and-greets, dance parties and air-conditioned hangout spots as well as free water park admission for hotel guests.
Disney also recently refreshed and reimagined park attractions like Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad and the Muppets-themed Rock 'n' Roller Coaster.
Driving attendance with IPNext up is the refurbishment of the Carousel of Progress, which is expected to be completed in late spring 2027, and the opening of the Monsters, Inc.-themed Monstropolis land, also set for 2027.
In the meantime, Disney continues working on its Avengers Campus expansion, its new Villains Land, the retheming of Frontierland featuring the Cars franchise as well as the new Tropical Americas land, among other long-term projects.
Disney's portfolio of IP has been the bedrock of its theme parks since the very first location opened its doors, and that library of content has only grown in recent decades. The company has a vast well of stories and characters to tap into in order to entice parkgoers.
While these new lands and rethemed attractions are designed for all future Disney parkgoers, these additions predominantly act as a beacon to those that don't travel as often to the company's resorts and parks. They offer a fresh reason for out-of-state and international guests to book a trip.
"The percentage of people that go to Shanghai Disneyland just to go to Zootopia Land is very, very high," then-CEO Bob Iger said during the company's fiscal first-quarter earnings report in February.
Rewarding loyal parkgoersEqually important are the guests that frequent Disney's parks more often. These attendees have some of the strongest emotional attachment to the parks and more purchasing opportunities when it comes to merchandise and concessions.
These parkgoers enjoy the new marquee expansions, but it's not the only driver for their visits to the parks. Those who visit annually or several times during the year are deeply passionate about the live shows, character meet-and-greets, holiday food specials, seasonal festivals and parades and nighttime spectaculars that these parks provide.
On Saturday, Disney revealed the return of two fan-favorite nighttime spectaculars — Remember Dreams Come True, a fireworks show at Disneyland, and the original World of Color at California Adventure. The Magic Happens parade will also be making a comeback at Disneyland.
"This new set of announcements demonstrates that Disney is listening to what fans want," said Gavin Doyle, founder of MickeyVisit.com. "The reaction in the room was cheering and thunderous applause. People feel like Disney hears what they have been asking for."
Disney plánuje proměnit Disney+ v „superaplikaci“ s hrami, merchandisingem a dalšími zážitky, aby zvýšil zapojení a snížil odchod uživatelů. Změny by mohly začít už příští jaro.
Josh D’Amaro’s vision for a Disney+ super app is taking shape — but comes with clear risks
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Josh D'Amaro, who's been Disney's CEO since mid-March, has big ambitions for Disney+.
Ricardo Moreira/Getty Images for Disney; Illustration by Jaque Silva/NurPhoto via Getty Images
Disney CEO Josh D'Amaro's dream of building a streaming "super app" is coming into focus, but big questions remain about whether it can juice revenue and engagement.
"Disney+ will continue to evolve, bringing together games, merchandise, and other experiences, while offering increased personalization, exclusivity, and benefits for subscribers," D'Amaro told employees in a post-earnings memo last week, first reported on by Business Insider.
The supercharged Disney+ would "deepen engagement, improve the value proposition, lower churn, and — most importantly — increase lifetime fan value," D'Amaro said to staffers. The memo said these updates could come starting next spring.
Some media analysts are skeptical that fans are eager to play games or buy merch in between streaming shows and movies.
"When you have a 'super app,' you wind up with a whole lot of mediocrity," said Alan Wolk, a media industry analyst at TVREV.
Folding games and shopping into Disney+ could create a confusing and annoying experience, Wolk said.
However, if executed properly, a more comprehensive Disney+ app could drive higher revenue while growing engagement and loyalty.
Hernan Lopez, founder of the media consulting firm Owl & Co., said that upselling experiences through Disney+ would help D'Amaro's company make more money from its most passionate fans.
"The potential revenue of a single day of a theme park visit can be higher than a year's worth of a Disney+ subscription," Lopez said.
Selling tickets to parks and cruises is enticing for Disney since its Experiences business drives the bulk of its profits. However, a "meaningful uptick" in sales of park tickets or merch sounds "aspirational," said John Conca, a media analyst at research firm Third Bridge.
"Any benefits from having a 'super app' are incremental rather than transformational," Conca said.
D'Amaro needs Disney's streaming business to be transformative to help jump-start the company's stagnant stock. Disney shares are down 8% in the past 12 months, and are up 10% in the last 10 years, while the S&P 500 has more than tripled.
Building a 'showcase for the entire Disney universe'Disney has been looking for ways to jumpstart viewership on its namesake streamer. Disney+ is absorbing Hulu's content and features and added a short-form video feed earlier this year. Soon, Disney+ will add a curated feed of Disney-themed TikToks.
Disney's streamers had a 4.9% viewership share on US TVs in May, up slightly from 4.7% at the end of 2025, according to Nielsen. YouTube has grown its share from 12.7% to 13.8% in that same span, as consumers embrace free services.
Disney is "exploring a free product for consumers," D'Amaro said last week.
For Disney+ to meaningfully grow engagement, it "should be far more than a streaming service," said Paolo Pescatore, a media analyst at PP Foresight.
"Disney+ should be the masterpiece and showcase for the entire Disney universe," Pescatore said, adding that it should expand its offering from movies, TV, and sports to games, creator content, merch, and tickets to parks and cruises.
Adding e-commerce features to Disney+ can help the Mouse House better understand its fans, including what they like to interact with and buy, Pescatore said.
While a well-executed super app could help Disney make more money from its fans, Forrester analyst Mike Proulx said Disney must avoid turning its beloved streamer into "a digital shopping mall."
"Disney is chasing engagement, frequency, and ad inventory, but there's a risk to its customer experience if Disney+ becomes too cluttered," Proulx said.
Games could drive engagement, but may not be 'transformational'Interactive content like games could also help Disney+ grow revenue by keeping fans from getting bored and canceling, Lopez said.
"Services need to give people more reasons to open them regularly, rather than simply turning up when a major film or series lands," Pescatore said.
Movies and TV shows are expensive to produce, so Disney+ could use cheaper ways to keep fans engaged between seasons of "Dancing with the Stars" and after hits like "The Bear" end.
"Disney is hoping to lower churn by filling those gaps with more reasons to engage," Proulx said.
That could be an uphill battle, though. Games don't seem to be moving the needle much for Netflix, even after years of investment.
"Netflix is proof that it will take significant time before that becomes any sort of engagement driver," Conca said.
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Disney uvedl, že jeho herní byznys v posledním fiskálním roce překročil 4 miliardy USD ve spotřebitelských výdajích. Partnerství s Epic Games má propojit Fortnite, disneyovské příběhy a obsah tvůrců.
Key Takeaways Disney's games business topped $4 billion in consumer spending in the latest fiscal year.Nine Disney titles have each generated more than $1 billion at retail, spanning Marvel and other franchises.Disney's Epic Games partnership aims to unite Fortnite, Disney storytelling and creator-made content. Disney (DIS - Free Report) is sharpening its case for gaming as a genuine growth engine. Disney said its games business, largely run through licensing partners, has driven an estimated $3.5 billion in annual consumer spending over the past four years and crossed $4 billion in consumer spending in the most recent fiscal year.
The company disclosed that nine titles in its portfolio have each generated more than $1 billion at retail, spanning franchises such as Kingdom Hearts and Marvel Strike Force, with newer releases including Marvel T??kon: Fighting Souls and the upcoming Marvel's Wolverine, slated for a September launch. Lucasfilm Games contributes titles across more than 20 genres, while Disney and Pixar mobile games, including Disney Solitaire, Disney Tsum Tsum and Disney Magic Kingdoms, have together surpassed one billion installs since 2014.
Layered onto this licensing base is Disney's collaboration with Epic Games, backed by a roughly $1.5 billion investment, aimed at building an entertainment universe combining Fortnite, Disney storytelling and creator-made content. Past activations point to reach: a Simpsons-themed Fortnite event in November 2025 logged 780 million hours played across more than 80 million unique players, while an earlier Marvel-themed in-game event drew over 15 million concurrent players.
These gaming disclosures follow fiscal third-quarter 2026 results, reported Aug. 5, in which total revenues rose 7% to $25.2 billion, and adjusted earnings per share grew 28% to $2.06, both ahead of prior guidance. Streaming revenues increased 11% with a 13% operating margin, and management reiterated full-year adjusted EPS growth guidance near 12%, excluding an extra fiscal week.
Even so, gaming's direct financial contribution remains modest relative to Experiences and streaming, and much of the newly disclosed spending flows through third-party licensees rather than Disney's own books, meaning the segment's promotion to a major growth catalyst is still more aspiration than established fact.
How DIS' Gaming Push Stacks Up Against Sony and Warner BrosUnlike Disney, which largely licenses its IP to partners, Sony (SONY - Free Report) develops and publishes titles directly through PlayStation Studios, giving Sony tighter control over release timing and revenue capture. Sony's 2026–2027 slate includes God of War Laufey, Tomb Raider: Legacy of Atlantis and Ghost of Y??tei-style single-player exclusives, alongside live-service bets like Marathon. Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD - Free Report) , meanwhile, is emerging from a self-described "rebuilding" phase after cancelling Wonder Woman and shuttering Monolith Productions; Warner Bros. has narrowed its pipeline to four franchises—Hogwarts Legacy, Mortal Kombat, Game of Thrones and DC/Batman—with 2026 releases limited to Lego Batman and a Game of Thrones mobile title, while Warner Bros. has signaled its "biggest" franchise returns will land only in 2027–2028.
DIS’ Share Price Performance, Valuation & EstimatesDisney shares have lost 7.9% year to date, underperforming the broader Zacks Consumer Discretionary sector's 6.2% decline.
DIS’ YTD Price Performance
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
From a valuation standpoint, DIS stock is currently trading at a forward 12-month price/earnings ratio of 14.18X compared with the Zacks Media Conglomerates industry's 15.86X, and the stock carries a Value Score of B.
Disney’s Valuation
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
Estimates for DisneyThe Zacks Consensus Estimate for Disney’s earnings for fiscal 2026 is pegged at $6.88, suggesting year-over-year growth of 16.02%.
DIS currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
Disney zvýšila tržby o 7 % a upravený zisk o 15 %, přičemž nejlépe si vedl segment experiences. Společnost zároveň zrychluje zpětný odkup akcií na 9 miliard USD za toto fiskální rok.
Many consumer tech companies are spending billions, tens of billions, and -- in a handful of cases -- hundreds of billions on artificial intelligence (AI) this year. Disney (DIS +0.35%) isn't afraid of cutting big checks to bankroll its future, but AI isn't the top priority.
It's been two years since Disney stunned the market by committing to $60 billion in capital expenditures for its experiences business, led by its theme parks and cruise line. Sure, this will be spread out over 10 years. It's still a substantial wager on a very important segment for the House of Mouse. It's a lot of money, and with Josh D'Amaro stepping up as CEO earlier this year, this should be a very exciting week on that front.
Image source: Disney.
A wish is a dream your heart makes Former CEO Bob Iger -- who led Disney from 2005 to 2020 before returning to the helm two years later -- handed the gig to D'Amaro in March. Iger never neglected the theme parks. International expansion and updated guest experiences served Disney's empire of gated attractions well.
However, Iger came from ABC. He served all of Disney well when he made it to the corner office, but there is no denying that the studio segment was his priority. The three biggest deals he orchestrated in his tenure -- Pixar, Lucasfilm, and 21st Century Fox -- were all media businesses. For a business built on princesses, content always seemed to be king in the eyes of Iger.
Iger was CEO when Disney announced the $60 billion shopping spree. Half of it would go to improving its theme parks. Less than a third of it would go to improving the infrastructure of its experiences. The rest would go to building out its fleet of cruise ships. However, when it came time to announce details of the new experiences coming to Disney's theme parks -- two summers ago at the D23 fan expo in California -- it was D'Amaro taking center stage.
Disney stock is up just 4% since D'Amaro became CEO less than five months ago. It may not seem like much, but Disney shares rose a mere 8% in the 40 months that Iger was the Big Cheese in his second run at the top. In Iger's defense, Disney was a five-bagger in his first go-round as CEO.
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Carousel of progress D'Amaro had a strong first full quarter as CEO, as Disney announced last week. Revenue rose just 7%, but that was its strongest top-line jump in more than three years. Adjusted earnings more than doubled that clip, rising a better-than-expected 15%.
There are always plenty of moving parts when Disney is successful, but nothing is moving as well as its experiences segment these days. It accounted for 54% of Disney's segment operating profit in its latest quarter. New cruise ships are naturally helping, but even its theme park business delivered another pleasant surprise. Its global theme parks posted a 4% increase in guests, while its two domestic resorts delivered a 3% gain. Even more impressively, per capita revenue is up 4%. Unlike rival attractions operators that saw weak guest trends and relied on heavy promotional activity, Disney saw its traffic pick up and guest wallets open wider.
Outside of the well-received financial update, D'Amaro's first few months have been uneventful, aside from layoffs to streamline operations and last week's announcement to ramp up its share buyback initiatives to $9 billion in repurchases this fiscal year. If you're waiting for D'Amaro's first true signature move, you won't have to wait long.
D23 is back this weekend, and the experiences segment that D'Amaro is championing will again find him joined by Neil Patrick Harris on Saturday night to announce future plans for its theme parks and cruise ships. Between firming up the timeline of new attractions revealed two years ago and likely announcing some new projects, D'Amaro will be back in his element.
Disney stock has been cut nearly in half since peaking five years ago. It would have to double from here to establish new all-time highs. When that ultimately happens, you can be sure that D'Amaro's presentation this weekend will play a starring role.
Disney+ a Hulu uzavřely s iHeartMedia dohodu o video podcastech pro šest podcastových titulů, včetně „Hey Jonas!“. Služby tím rozšiřují nabídku v konkurenčním trhu.
Disney+ logo is seen in this illustration taken August 5, 2025. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights, opens new tab
Aug 10 (Reuters) - Disney+ (DIS.N), opens new tab and Hulu said on Monday they had struck a video podcasting deal with iHeartMedia (IHRT.O), opens new tab for six podcast titles, starting with "Hey Jonas!," as they expand their libraries to draw more users in a competitive market.
The agreement extends Disney+ and Hulu's push into video podcasts, a format also being embraced by rivals including Netflix (NFLX.O), opens new tab and HBO Max.
Here are some details:
"Hey Jonas!," hosted by the Jonas Brothers, will premiere on Disney+ and Hulu on August 14, the companies said.
The deal will bring several celebrity-hosted rewatch and companion podcasts to the platforms, including "Pod Meets World" on Disney+ and "Desperately Devoted," "Fake Doctors, Real Friends with Zach and Donald," "StraightioLab" and "Thanks Dad with Ego Nwodim" on Hulu in the coming months.
The podcasts will begin streaming on Disney+ and Hulu in phases over the coming months.
Disney and iHeartMedia did not disclose the financial terms of the deal.
Netflix and HBO Max have also moved into video podcasts, with Netflix striking deals with Spotify (SPOT.N), opens new tab and iHeartMedia for shows including "The Bill Simmons Podcast."
Reporting by Prathik Jayaprakash in Bengaluru; Editing by Tasim Zahid
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles., opens new tab
Disney oznámil, že letos plánuje zpětné odkupy akcií alespoň za 9 miliard USD, protože považuje své akcie za podhodnocené. Ocenění je na víceletém minimu, P/E činí 16,8.
The Walt Disney Company (DIS +0.22%) is a media and entertainment powerhouse. This statement isn't really up for debate. Its various studios, franchises, characters, and storylines are key to its success.
However, the business has made for an awful investment. In the past five years, the share price has declined 41% (as of Aug. 6).
The valuation is now at a multiyear low. Meanwhile, the leadership team is raising repurchase activity. Does this setup make Disney a no-brainer value stock?
Image source: The Motley Fool.
Disney's momentum continues The company's fiscal 2026 third-quarter (ended June 27) financial results highlight once again that the experiences segment is a strong performer. Revenue here was up 10% year over year, with operating income rising 20%.
Revenue from theme park admissions was boosted by 3% higher attendance and 5% favorable per-capita ticket spending. Resorts and vacations saw a 17% bump in sales, driven by the launch of two new cruise ships in the past year.
Disney's direct-to-consumer streaming operations, most notably from Disney+ and Hulu, have also introduced a notable financial catalyst. Revenue increased 11% year over year. And the operating margin came in at 13%. The company's streaming division was burning more than $1 billion quarterly a few years ago. The transition from a cash-burning machine to a moneymaker has been impressive.
Success at the movie theater also stands out. Toy Story 5 has now eclipsed $1 billion in worldwide box office revenue.
Dialing up the share repurchases During the third quarter, Disney raked in $3.1 billion in free cash flow (FCF). This was lifted by a 32% jump in operating cash flow. The consensus view among analysts is that FCF will rise in each successive year from fiscal 2025 through fiscal 2028.
Investors should be encouraged by how executives plan to handle this windfall in the near term.
"We believe our shares are undervalued and we continued to lean into share repurchases during the quarter," the earnings press release reads. It's hard to find a clearer example showcasing how the management team feels about its stock price. This directly dictates capital allocation.
Disney now plans to spend at least $9 billion on share repurchases this fiscal year. "The reason we're doing that is largely to utilize the cash that had been set aside previously for the OpenAI deal and now from the expected proceeds from the A+E transaction, which was announced overnight," Chief Financial Officer Hugh Johnston said on the Q3 2026 earnings call.
Disney sold its 50% stake in A+E Global Media to simplify the business. This deal will bring in $1.2 billion in cash.
Nine years ago, in fiscal 2017, Disney bought back $9.4 billion worth of its stock. It has essentially ramped up the activity to that level, a vote of confidence in the company's fundamental position.
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The stock has disappointed investors I believe that Disney is a value stock right now, as does the leadership team. Its shares trade at a price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of 16.8. This valuation has come down dramatically over the past five years. It represents a 33% discount to the overall S&P 500 index.
However, I wouldn't go so far as to call it a no-brainer opportunity. Disney's current share price is $104.68. Exactly 11 years ago, in August 2015, the stock traded at $108.55. Shares have gone nowhere, yet the underlying business has undergone significant change, with cable networks now mattering less to the financial picture.
Disney expects double-digit adjusted earnings-per-share growth in fiscal 2027, after a 12% rise this fiscal year. And analysts see a 10.6% increase in fiscal 2028.
Despite these healthy forecasted gains, supported by the success of experiences and streaming, it's difficult to believe that the market will break with tradition and assign a sustainably higher valuation multiple to Disney shares. In a best-case scenario, I think the stock can register a 10% to 15% annualized total return.
Disney ve 3. čtvrtletí zvýšila tržby o 7 % a provozní zisk o 21 %, což potvrzuje obrat v segmentu Entertainment. Management pro fiskální rok 2026 čeká růst tržeb v vysokých jednociferných procentech a nejméně 9 mld. USD na zpětné odkupy.
SummaryDisney delivered a strong Q3 with 7% revenue growth, 21% operating income expansion, and a 13% SVOD margin—confirming the turnaround in Entertainment and continued strength in Experiences.DIS's management guided to high‑single‑digit FY26 revenue growth and at least $9B in buybacks, while segment trends show accelerating Entertainment, resilient Experiences, and a temporary dip in Sports.Despite improving fundamentals and a healthier balance sheet, valuation screens as fair; my DCF places intrinsic value near the current price, leading me to maintain a neutral rating on Disney.Looking for a helping hand in the market? Members of iREIT®+HOYA Capital get exclusive ideas and guidance to navigate any climate. Learn More » Getty Images
Introduction I last wrote on Disney (DIS) just over a year ago when I rated the stock as a hold. At that time, Disney was trading at $116 and has since dropped roughly 12% while the market has moved up by
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Walt Disney (DIS +3.65%) delivered the goods on Wednesday morning. The king of the entertainment industry broadcast its fiscal third-quarter results, and investors clearly found much to like about the company’s recent performance and its future potential.
Two items that were particularly appealing were management’s stated goal of —again — increasing its share repurchase target, and its adherence to the existing double-digit growth guidance. Let’s tune in to the quarter.
Image source: Walt Disney.
The happiest investors on Earth?Disney grew its revenue by 7% year over year during the period to $25.2 billion. The company’s net income not under generally accepted accounting principles (non-GAAP, or adjusted) increased by 23% to over $3.8 billion, or $2.06 per share.
The company missed the consensus analyst revenue estimate slightly but beat on adjusted net income. Professional Disney-watchers were anticipating $25.4 billion on the top line, and only $1.86 for adjusted earnings per share (EPS).
Of its three reporting units, experiences posted the highest revenue growth rate. This came in at 10%, to a total of just under $10 billion. The company’s first-in-class theme parks benefited from the annual admission price raises that are becoming routine, and other factors such as a sustained boom in travel and tourism. The overall take for theme park admissions rose 9% to nearly $3.3 billion, while the popularity of travel helped the company’s resorts and vacations segment post a robust 17% improvement to almost $2.8 billion.
The company’s core entertainment operations did well too, with overall revenue rising 6% to $11.3 billion. The growth spot within the category was subscription and affiliate fees; these advanced by 12% to over $7.5 billion. Disney’s sports division (dominated by ESPN) placed last, with revenue growth of 4% to $4.5 billion. Finally, inter-segment eliminations shaved $565 million off the company’s total top-line figure.
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101.76
Unified strategyWhile this didn’t qualify as a blowout quarter, the across-the-board revenue growth rates demonstrate the effectiveness of the One Disney strategy, which more tightly integrates the sprawling company’s many entertainment operations. New film releases are accompanied by pushes in related merchandise and, at times, new theme park attractions. Disney is a master at this: a customer paying for a movie ticket becomes a buyer of a doll depicting the lead character, and later a Disneyland attendee eager to go on the ride linked to the film.
While investors surely would have loved a guidance raise, management’s reaffirmation of its existing forecasts presages continued growth. Its full-year 2026 earnings projections were maintained: adjusted EPS growth of either 12% or 16% over the previous year, depending on whether you count the year’s extra reporting week. The company also maintained its forecast of a double-digit percentage improvement in profitability for 2027, although it has yet to put a specific number to it.
That steady-and-she-goes stance put a spotlight on the raised goal for share repurchases. The company said it is now targeting total spend of a whopping $9 billion this fiscal year on buybacks, up from the “merely” $8 billion goal stated in the previous quarter, and the $7 billion of the quarter prior to that (also, far above the $3.5 billion spent in fiscal 2025). That huge and steadily rising figure is more than an investor-morale-boosting effort at this point; it clearly shows that management thinks the stock is undervalued.
I would agree with that take. Disney remains miles ahead of any other entertainment company, in both scale and the many sources of revenue growth at its disposal. That, bolstered by the One Disney strategy that maximizes revenue amplification, presages a bright future for the company. I continue to believe that investors seeking the single best entertainment stock for their portfolios will make the right choice with this one.
Disney vykázal ve třetím fiskálním čtvrtletí rekordní tržby divize Experiences téměř 10 miliard USD, meziročně o 10 % více. Provozní zisk stoupl o 20 % na více než 3 miliardy USD.
Disney parks are defying a slump in international travel to the U.S., posting record quarterly revenue for the company's experiences division on Wednesday.
The experiences segment, which includes Disney's theme parks, cruise line, resorts and consumer products, reported nearly $10 billion in revenue for the fiscal third quarter, a 10% jump from the same quarter a year prior and a quarterly record. The division has seen record revenue for six consecutive quarters.
The division recorded operating income of more than $3 billion, up 20% from the same period a year prior. Shares of Disney were 2% higher Wednesday.
"It's important, I think, to highlight that we're performing significantly better than our competition," Disney CEO Josh D'Amaro said during Wednesday's earnings call. "And in doing that, delivering strong volume and per [capita] spending results. And to remind everyone we're achieving this even during a period where there's a fair amount of macro uncertainty."
Last month, rival Comcast reported lags in theme park attendance, particularly in Orlando, Florida.
While tourism grew worldwide last year, the United States was the only major destination to see a drop in foreign visitors, according to the World Travel & Tourism Council. Overall, international travel to the U.S. fell 6%, the organization found.
Travel bans, visa fees and invasive searches at ports of entry are all factors in international travelers leaving the United States off their travel itineraries, according to the WTTC. Trade frictions, geopolitical unease and safety concerns have also contributed to the drop in demand for travel stateside, travel experts told CNBC.
And yet, at Disney, domestic park attendance was up 3% and guest spending rose 4%, CFO Hugh Johnston told CNBC. He also called out the "very strong attendance" at Walt Disney World in Orlando.
"Those numbers are somewhat different than what you would have seen from our competitor down there, as well as some of the reported traffic coming through Orlando [International] Airport," he added.
The company attributed strong attendance to its Cool Kids Summer promotion, which features kid-focused character meet-and-greets, dance parties and air-conditioned hangout spots as well as free water park admission for hotel guests.
Disney also recently refreshed and reimagined park attractions like Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad and the Muppets-themed Rock 'n' Roller Coaster.
"Disney activated their fans to visit the theme parks during the quarter using a mix of marketing and discounting campaigns targeting young families and residents," said Gavin Doyle, founder of MickeyVisit.com. "Despite a massive slate of upcoming rides that might have encouraged guests to delay their visits, Disney has found ways to create urgency and enticing opportunities to visit the theme parks now."
These efforts "work to deepen [Disney's] connection to modern audiences," Doyle said.
On the West Coast, the California-based parks had a similar promotion at Disneyland in Anaheim.
"Disneyland's targeted discounts for California residents and kids ensured that families did not skip visiting the parks this year," Doyle said.
Disney's experiences segment also benefitted from the addition of two new ships to its cruise fleet, the Disney Destiny and the Disney Adventure. Together these cruise liners increased stateroom capacity by around 50% and helped push revenue from the resorts and vacations piece of the division up 17% to $2.77 billion for the fiscal third quarter.
Recently installed Fubo CEO Alisa Bowen whetted Wall Street appetites for the upside of being controlled by Disney, her alma mater, during the company’s quarterly earnings call on Wednesday.
“Obviously, I know that company very well, and I’m very confident that we’ll continue to strengthen those relationships as we work together on what the future opportunities for both Fubo and Hulu + Live TV are,” Bowen said.
Bowen took the helm last month, replacing David Gandler, who co-founded the company and had led it as CEO since its launch in 2015. Disney in 2025 took a 70% stake in Fubo as part of a settlement of an antitrust lawsuit brought over the never-launched Venu Sports, a joint venture backed by Disney, Fox Corp. and Warner Bros. Discovery. Fubo has remained a separately traded company, operating both FuboTV and Hulu + Live TV as separate services.
“Even today, just nine months after the close, there are some really interesting areas of opportunity that we’re very enthusiastic about,” Bowen said. Marketing partnerships, she explained will be one area to explore. The company, whose Fubo offering has a sports-centric focus, has recently been featured on the ESPN app.
“The ESPN relationship is at its very early stages and while the numbers are small, the signals are very convincing,” Bowen continued. There’s better conversion and retention from that heavily enthusiastic sports base for the Fubo products versus some of the other marketing media channels that we have and tapping into that audience that ESPN serves so well is a clear opportunity.
Disney is also working on integrating Hulu and Hulu + Live TV into the Disney+ app. Disney CEO Josh D’Amaro elaborated on that plan earlier Wednesday on Disney’s earnings call.
Fubo stock rose in early trading after the company reported revenue of $1.48 billion in the quarter, flat with the year-earlier period on a pro forma basis. Losses per share came in at 25 cents, which was better than analysts had expected, with total subscribers inching up 2% to 5.75 million.
Beyond the synergy question, Bowen and CFO John Janedis addressed the impact of the World Cup on subscriber levels as well as how they stack up with rival YouTube TV. In recent months, YouTube TV has rolled out nearly a dozen new bundles at varying price points, including a sports-focused offering.
“Our package competes with a YouTube TV sports package, obviously, but there are differences between each of these,” Bowen said. “For example, the Fox News component in our sports package is something that’s particularly valued by our subscriber base and is working well for us.”
The World Cup, whose Spanish-language broadcasts on Telemundo were made available on Fubo in a late-breaking carriage deal just prior to the tournament’s start in June, had a “favorable impact” on subscriber levels, Janedis said. On a sequential basis, 25,000 subscribers came in during the quarter, including some for the World Cup.
Bowen noted that a number of product innovations were unveiled during the lead-up to the World Cup.
More broadly, being included as part of Disney’s upfront ad sales process provided a lift, Bowen said. “We’re very bullish on our opportunity to best leverage the Disney ad sales operation,” she said.
Disney spojí Disney+ s TikTokem a začne do krátkého feedu Vert přidávat fanouškovská videa o Pixaru, Marvelu a Star Wars. Pilot poběží v USA v příštích měsících.
Disney is partnering with TikTok to bring Disney-focused fan content directly into the Disney+ app. The companies are starting with a pilot program in the U.S. in the coming months, and plan to expand to additional markets later on.
As part of the agreement, fan-made videos on TikTok about Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars, and other franchises will be featured in the “Verts” section of Disney+, the streamer’s short-form video feed that rolled out a few months ago.
Disney has been working to flesh out the amount and variety of content on the video feed. The company late last year committed to making a significant $1 billion investment in OpenAI as part of a three-year licensing deal that would let people create short videos using Disney characters on the AI lab’s video generation platform, Sora. However, those plans fell through after OpenAI suddenly decided to shut down Sora in March.
This partnership with TikTok seems like a natural progression of that, especially as many streaming platforms are competing with social platforms for users’ attention. This competition is partly why Disney launched the Verts feature in the first place, along with Netflix, HBO Max, and Prime Video.
The deal also indicates that Disney is acknowledging that the next generation of talent is on social media. The company said that, through the newly launched Disney Creator Ambassador Program, TikTok creators will gain access to the media giant’s vast library of content, as well as opportunities to earn rewards, increase visibility, access exclusive events, and career opportunities.
Other streaming services, such as Tubi and Peacock, have collaborated with TikTok creators to produce original long-form content for their platforms.
The timing of the announcement aligns with Disney’s Q3 results. The company reported its subscription video-on-demand (SVOD) operating income more than doubled to $712 million from $329 million a year earlier. Plus, in a restructuring move, Disney has decided to shift its consumer products business from the Experiences division to Studios.
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Josh D'Amaro, who became Disney's CEO in March, lauded staffers in a post-earnings memo. Jade GAO / AFP via Getty Images Disney CEO Josh D'Amaro congratulated employees after a strong quarter — and outlined his plans for Disney+ and AI.
"Our performance reflects the strength of our businesses, the enduring power of our stories and brands, and, most importantly, the extraordinary work you do every day," D'Amaro said in a memo viewed by Business Insider.
D'Amaro shared his vision for Disney+ with staffers, which involves building a "super app" that he hopes will eventually include games and merchandise.
"Beyond our films and series, Disney+ will continue to evolve, bringing together games, merchandise, and other experiences, while offering increased personalization, exclusivity, and benefits for subscribers," D'Amaro wrote in his memo.
A supercharged Disney+ would "deepen engagement, improve the value proposition, lower churn, and — most importantly — increase lifetime fan value," D'Amaro wrote. These changes are expected to start next spring, he said.
D'Amaro also talked about his AI strategy, saying Disney is "leveraging AI to bring the most innovative tools to our storytellers."
The CEO reiterated that "AI isn't simply about efficiency — it's about enhancing a creative process that will always be human-centered, artist-driven, and creator-led."
Disney is also betting on creators with a new TikTok deal that will put curated user-generated content on Disney+.
The Mouse House satisfied Wall Street by reporting revenue growth of 7% and a 28% jump in adjusted diluted earnings per share in its June quarter. Streaming operating income more than doubled to $712 million, while Experiences operating income grew 20%.
Shares rose over 2% in early trading, though the stock is still down more than 14% in the last 12 months.
Read the full memo from D'Amaro below:
Dear Fellow Employees & Cast Members,Today, we reported our Q3 results, and I want to share a few highlights that you helped make possible. Our performance reflects the strength of our businesses, the enduring power of our stories and brands, and, most importantly, the extraordinary work you do every day.During my first five months as CEO, I've been focused on ensuring that we execute as one company around a unified strategy. And what we're seeing this quarter is proof that coordinating our franchises, sharing data and technology, and building seamless fan experiences works. Disney's fundamental advantage is the depth of our fan relationships, and that translates directly to growth in our business.Today, we find ourselves in an environment where consumers have more options than ever for their time, and yet, our results show they keep choosing to spend their time with Disney. This success reflects our continued execution across three strategic priorities: First, investing in creative excellence and world-class IP. Second, leveraging technology to accelerate growth and drive returns. And third, deepening our direct relationships with fans by creating a more connected Disney experience. Anchoring these strategic priorities is our One Disney operating model, which will allow us to fully capture the value of our portfolio for both fans and shareholders.This quarter at Disney Experiences, we grew global guests 4% year-over-year, with particular strength at Walt Disney World, while also benefitting from additional capacity at Disney Cruise Line. Forward bookings at our domestic parks and cruise line remain healthy, and we are investing to sustain that growth and, over the lifetime of these projects, deliver strong growth returns. The pipeline includes major attractions at every site, including Villains Land in Orlando and the Avengers Campus expansion in Anaheim, amongst others in the U.S., and our previously announced cruise ship expansion.At our studios, the strength of our franchise IP was evident in the financial and cultural impact of Toy Story 5, which recently surpassed $1 billion at the global box office. The five Toy Story films have delivered over $4 billion in global box office and over 2 billion hours streamed on Disney+. Across all retailers, Toy Story generates more than $1 billion annually in global sales and reaches fans across every Disney park and cruise ship, including four immersive lands, 19 attractions, and two hotels. That's the Disney flywheel in action: one powerful and enduring story, told across theaters, streaming, retail, and physical experiences. That integration creates a structure no one else has been able to replicate.Of course, I'd be remiss not to acknowledge and congratulate everyone on this past weekend's record-breaking opening for Spider-Man: Brand New Day. Congratulations to Sony, Kevin Feige, and the Marvel Studios team — it's an unbelievable result, and it's one more example that audiences will turn out in force for great theatrical experiences. Sixty-five years after his debut, Spider-Man remains one of the most popular characters, through consumer products, parks, and streaming. And this weekend, it's a great reminder of just how much strength this franchise still has. And it goes without saying that the success of Spider-Man bodes well for our upcoming and highly anticipated Avengers: Doomsday film.Turning to streaming, Entertainment SVOD continued to perform well in the quarter, and we passed an important milestone in app unification, allowing Hulu standalone and bundle subscribers to link profiles and manage subscriptions on Disney+. Our long-term streaming strategy rests on two pillars: make the core streaming experience the best in the marketplace and connect our businesses into a single digital ecosystem. Beyond our films and series, Disney+ will continue to evolve, bringing together games, merchandise, and other experiences, while offering increased personalization, exclusivity, and benefits for subscribers. All of this is designed to deepen engagement, improve the value proposition, lower churn, and — most importantly — increase lifetime fan value. We expect to introduce elements of this expanded ecosystem beginning in Spring of 2027.That same strategy also extends to Sports, where ESPN gives us another powerful way to deepen our relationship with fans. This quarter, the unique passion of sports fandom drove over 100% growth in NBA Finals and NHL postseason viewership across ESPN and ABC versus the prior season, making this the most viewed fiscal Q3 on ESPN, ESPN2, and ESPN on ABC since 2016.Underpinning all of this work is our deep commitment to embracing emerging technology. Our company was founded on the convergence of creativity and breakthrough technology — and continuing that tradition is a priority for me and this leadership team. That's why we're leveraging AI to bring the most innovative tools to our storytellers. As I've said before, AI isn't simply about efficiency — it's about enhancing a creative process that will always be human-centered, artist-driven, and creator-led.To sum it all up, there is real clarity of purpose across our company. We know who we are: storytellers with an unmatched ability to reach fans across every format and geography. When we combine that strength with speed, discipline, and innovation, there is no limit to what we can achieve.Thank you for everything you are doing to move Disney forward. I am proud of what we accomplished this quarter, and even more excited about what we will build together. I look forward to seeing many of you next week in Anaheim for D23: The Ultimate Disney Fan Event, where we will unveil more of the exciting things we have in the works from across the company.Josh
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Disney vyprodala reklamní prostor pro únorový Super Bowl a dokončila i prodej upfrontů na roky 2026–2027. CFO Hugh Johnston uvedl, že celkový objem závazků je meziročně ve vyšších jednotkách procent.
Disney has sold out ad inventory for next February’s Super Bowl and also wrapped up 2026-27 upfront sales.
The news was announced by Chief Financial Officer Hugh Johnston during the company’s fiscal third-quarter earnings call on Wednesday.
The Super Bowl, which will be played at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, CA, has been a promotional area for Disney for several months. The game will be the first ever to air on ESPN, in a simulcast with ABC. The company is in the midst of a year-long runup to the game, with the marketing blitz to culminate with an “ESPN Beach” activation on the Santa Monica pier in February.
Drawn by recent momentum for live sports and the ongoing ratings clout of the NFL, 58 brands in 34 different categories have bought time, with nine first-time advertisers. Super Bowl LXI is slated for February 14, which is not only Valentine’s Day but next year is followed by the federal Presidents Day holiday.
Johnston did not offer any guidance of pricing, though reports have said spots commanded $8 million to $9 million for 30 seconds.
RELATED: ‘Spider-Man: Brand New Day’ Triumph “Bodes Well” For ‘Avengers: Doomsday’, Disney CEO Josh D’Amaro Says
The Super Bowl crowned the company’s 2026–2027 upfront process, with execs citing total volume commitments up double digits versus last year.
While execs are “pleased” with the results of the upfront and is seeing “healthy” returns in sports, Johnston said, the streaming marketplace is a bit more challenging. “The growth of supply in the marketplace,” he said, is “creating some pricing pressure for us and for others, which you saw in our SVOD ad sales growth rate this quarter.”
In global territories, especially EMEA, the exec added, “we’re seeing real demand for Disney+ as we expand our ad tier and we optimize the sell-through in our growth markets.”
Category-wise, he added, “as is typically the case, it’s a bit of a mix. We’re seeing good momentum in healthcare and financial services and in political categories, while telecom and restaurants and CPG are displaying some softness, as you would expect with the consumer environment these days.”
In a statement, Disney ad chief Rita Ferro highlighted “can’t-miss moments” on the schedule beyond live sports, including the Oscars, the Grammys, the CMA Awards and New Year’s Rockin’ Eve.
Disney vykázala za čtvrtletí tržby 25,25 miliardy USD, meziročně o 6,8 % více, a EPS 2,06 USD. Tržby ale mírně zaostaly za odhady Wall Street o 0,91 %.
For the quarter ended June 2026, Walt Disney (DIS - Free Report) reported revenue of $25.25 billion, up 6.8% over the same period last year. EPS came in at $2.06, compared to $1.61 in the year-ago quarter.
The reported revenue represents a surprise of -0.91% over the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $25.48 billion. With the consensus EPS estimate being $1.88, the EPS surprise was +9.57%.
While investors scrutinize revenue and earnings changes year-over-year and how they compare with Wall Street expectations to determine their next move, some key metrics always offer a more accurate picture of a company's financial health.
As these metrics influence top- and bottom-line performance, comparing them to the year-ago numbers and what analysts estimated helps investors project a stock's price performance more accurately.
Here is how Disney performed in the just reported quarter in terms of the metrics most widely monitored and projected by Wall Street analysts:
Parks - Attendance - Domestic Resorts: 3% versus the two-analyst average estimate of 1%.Parks - Per Capita Guest Spending - Domestic Resorts: 4% versus the two-analyst average estimate of 3%.Hotels - Occupancy - Domestic Resorts: 91% versus 85.5% estimated by two analysts on average.Hotels - Occupancy - International Resorts: 85% versus 86.5% estimated by two analysts on average.Revenue- Entertainment: $11.35 billion compared to the $11.78 billion average estimate based on four analysts. The reported number represents a change of +6% year over year.Revenue- Sports: $4.5 billion versus $4.55 billion estimated by four analysts on average. Compared to the year-ago quarter, this number represents a +4.5% change.Revenue- Eliminations: $-565 million versus the four-analyst average estimate of $-619.38 million. The reported number represents a year-over-year change of +26.1%.Revenue- Experiences: $9.97 billion versus the four-analyst average estimate of $9.74 billion. The reported number represents a year-over-year change of +9.7%.Revenue- Entertainment- Other: $579 million compared to the $589.37 million average estimate based on two analysts. The reported number represents a change of +1215.9% year over year.Revenue- Experiences- Theme park admissions: $3.25 billion versus the two-analyst average estimate of $3.08 billion. The reported number represents a year-over-year change of +8.6%.Revenue- Experiences- Parks & Experiences merchandise, food and beverage: $2.28 billion versus the two-analyst average estimate of $2.19 billion. The reported number represents a year-over-year change of +6.6%.Revenue- Experiences- Resorts and vacations: $2.77 billion compared to the $2.88 billion average estimate based on two analysts. The reported number represents a change of +16.6% year over year.View all Key Company Metrics for Disney here>>>
Shares of Disney have returned +0.7% over the past month versus the Zacks S&P 500 composite's +3.5% change. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold), indicating that it could perform in line with the broader market in the near term.
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Disney's CEO, Josh D'Amaro, said the company is interested in free streaming. Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic; Illustration by Samuel Boivin/NurPhoto via Getty Images Disney CEO Josh D'Amaro just confirmed that the company is taking a close look at moving into free streaming.
"We're exploring a free product for consumers, one that will allow us to accomplish several goals and hopefully do that efficiently," D'Amaro said on Wednesday morning during Disney's earnings call. (D'Amaro was asked about FAST channels — which are live feeds of free, ad-supported TV — but he didn't specifically mention them in his response.)
Business Insider reported in July that Disney is exploring making some Disney+ content accessible for free. Paramount+ is also looking into a "free front porch" to grow reach, as Hollywood increasingly embraces free streamers.
A free streaming offering would have three main benefits, D'Amaro said on the earnings call:
Expanding Disney's reach by better serving customers who are "more price sensitive"Growing its advertising revenue by adding more inventoryDriving "top-of-funnel" subscriber growth for Disney+Disney's streaming ad spots are "fairly well sold," D'Amaro said, adding that this isn't the case for some of its streaming competitors.
"More inventory would actually help us accelerate our ad revenue growth," D'Amaro said.
The Disney CEO said the company had "nothing specific to announce today" about a free product but that it's "definitely something that we're considering."
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Disney uvedl, že úspěch „Toy Story 5“ za čtvrtletí končící v červnu podpořil prodej zboží s motivy značky, sledovanost Disney+ i návštěvnost parků. Tržby divize Entertainment vzrostly o 6 % na 11,3 miliardy USD.
Item 1 of 4 Tom Hanks and Woody attend the "Toy Story 5" UK launch event in London, Britain, May 28, 2026. REUTERS/Jack Taylor
[1/4]Tom Hanks and Woody attend the "Toy Story 5" UK launch event in London, Britain, May 28, 2026. REUTERS/Jack Taylor Purchase Licensing Rights, opens new tab
CompaniesLOS ANGELES, Aug 5 (Reuters) - Disney (DIS.N), opens new tab said the blockbuster success of "Toy Story 5" extended beyond the box office for the June quarter, as the hit film fueled sales of merchandise, added to engagement on the Disney+ streaming service, and attracted more visitors to its theme parks.
Shares of the company jumped 4.6% in premarket trading on Wednesday.
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CEO Josh D'Amaro, who took over in March, highlighted his strategy to invest in franchises like Toy Story to reach audiences outside the box office in a lengthy earnings letter to shareholders on Wednesday.
Separately, Disney and TikTok announced a deal on Wednesday that will allow TikTok creators to use characters and scenes from Disney movies and TV shows in short-form videos, the first agreement of its kind between the social media platform and a traditional media company.
The entertainment giant reported revenue of $25.2 billion in the quarter, up 7% from last year, but shy of Wall Street's forecasts of $25.4 billion, according to analysts surveyed by LSEG.
Disney's per-share earnings rose 28% from a year ago to an adjusted $2.06, beating forecasts of $1.86 a share.
The company said it would sell its 50% stake in A+E Global Media to co-owner Hearst Corporation, and use the estimated $1.2 billion in cash proceeds to repurchase Disney shares. This will increase the value of its fiscal 2026 share repurchases to at least $9 billion.
Disney's Parks and experiences division reported revenue of nearly $10 billion, up 10% from a year ago, fueled by a 4% increase in attendance at its theme parks, globally, and a 3% increase at its domestic parks.
Analysts had expressed concern about Disney's U.S. parks, after Comcast CMCSA.O attributed softening attendance trends at its Universal theme parks in Orlando to higher fuel prices and weaker consumer sentiment.
Operating income for the experiences segment rose to $3 billion, a 20% gain from a year ago, in part reflecting a $100 million tariff refund it received earlier in the quarter. The U.S. Treasury Department has been issuing refunds after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down President Donald Trump's global tariffs as illegal.
Disney's Entertainment group reported $11.3 billion in revenue for the quarter, a gain of 6% from a year earlier, reflecting the performance of "Toy Story" and a 15% increase in subscription fees for the company's Disney+ and Hulu streaming services. Segment operating income rose 64% to nearly $1.7 billion.
Sports reported revenue of $4.5 billion in the quarter, though income from the four-game sweeps that marked the early rounds of the NBA playoff games contributed to lower-than-anticipated operating income, which fell 17% to $858 million.
Disney said it expects fourth quarter segment operating income of $4.9 billion. This guidance reflects anticipated continued healthy growth in its parks group.
However, the weak box office performance of live-action adaptation of "Moana" would impact results for the entertainment segment.
Reporting by Dawn Chmielewski in Los Angeles; Additional reporting by Harshita Mary Varghese in Bengaluru; Editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles., opens new tab
Disney ve fiskálním 3. čtvrtletí zvýšil provozní zisk o 21 % na 5,6 miliardy USD a tržby o 7 % na 25,2 miliardy USD, nad odhady trhu. Zisk ze streamingu se více než zdvojnásobil na 712 milionů USD.
Disney’s Josh D’Amaro stepped out with solid numbers and some news in his first full quarter as CEO. Toy Story 5 drove studio revenue, theme parks saw an uptick in attendance, and streaming profits more than doubled for the three months ended in June.
Total operating income for Disney’s fiscal third quarter jumped 21% $5.6 billion, beating Wall Street forecasts, as did adjusted EPS (of $2.06 a share, up from $1.61).
Revenue of $25.2 billion rose 7% from the year earlier.
The fiscal Q3 numbers follow confirmation of Disney’s planned sale of its 50% interest in A+E Global Media to an affiliate of co-owner Hearst for $1.2 billion in cash. The media giant is moving its consumer products business under Studios from the lucrative division’s longtime home in Experiences. And it unveiled a global, short form content sharing partnership with TikTok this morning.
The quarterly numbers and full-year outlook “reinforce our confidence that we are uniquely well positioned,” said D’Amaro, who took the reins from Bob Iger in March. “Decades of IP investment have built deep fan connections that translate into strong financial results. Our accelerating global guests growth at Experiences, Toy Story 5‘s theatrical and consumer products success, and strong ESPN viewership gains all helped expand our consumer reach this quarter.”
He’ll be hosting a call with analysts at 8:30 am ET.
Disney’s three sprawling divisions are led by Entertainment, which posted profit of $1.7 billion, up 64%, on revenue of $11.3 billion. The company cited the June 19 theatrical release of Toy Story 5, which has surpassed $1 billion in global box office, as well as The Devil Wears Prada 2.
Disney acknowledged that Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu and live action Moana (in fiscal 4Q) underperformed at the box office but noted their other contributions to the flywheel like a new Mandalorian-themed Millennium Falcon: Smuggler’s Run at Disneyland and Walt Disney World, and retail sales.
“We expect the live-action Moana to be a strong title on Disney+, building on the success of the original film … and extending the reach of the franchise, which now includes three films, a themed area at EPCOT, and a robust global merchandise business.”
Disney doesn’t furnish streaming subscriber numbers anymore but said SVOD operating income more than doubled to $712 million from $329 million on revenue of $5.5 billion, up 11%. Subscriptions fees rose 15% (9% from more subscribers, 3% from higher rates and 1% from a favorable foreign exchange impact). Advertising nosed up 3% (impressions were higher, rates lower).
Disney also sounded a bit like Netflix as it talked up an emerging international programming slate with Rivals Season 2 on Disney+ in the U.K. and Ireland, The Perfect Crown in Korea and Dear Killer Nannies in Latin America. The company plans to triple the number of Disney+ local original series over the next three years.
“Our ambition is for Disney+ to become the digital centerpiece of the Walt Disney Company,” D’Amaro’s letter said.
“We aim to evolve Disney+ into a comprehensive membership ecosystem. By integrating high-value, always-on benefits with our storytelling, we can reach more fans, deepen engagement, and increase subscriber retention. These product enhancements will also allow us to further segment the market, increasing our addressable opportunity over time. We expect to begin introducing elements of this vision in Spring 2027.”
Disney+ Q3 churn declined worldwide and Disney said it passed an important milestone in “app unification” allowing Hulu standalone and bundle subscribers to link profiles, watch history, and manage subscriptions on Disney+.
At Experiences, profit rose 20% to over $3 billion on almost $10 billion in revenue. Global guests grew 4% and attendance at domestic parks rose 3%. WDW saw healthy core attendance increases from domestic tourists and annual passholders.Forward bookings remain robust.
That should reassure investors who were spooked by softer attendance at Universal’s domestic parks when Comcast reported earnings last month.
Theme parks average per capita ticket revenue rose 5%. Disney noted continued, but moderating, headwinds from international attendance at domestic parks. It cited strong attendance growth at Disneyland Paris following the opening of World of Frozen. Overall, it anticipates a quarter of global guest growth in the current fiscal Q4 despite consumer softness in Asia.
Q3 was the first full quarter with Disney’s two newest cruise ships, the Disney Destiny and Disney Adventure.
Disney said it recorded approximately $100 million in a tariff refund for the quarter, reversing out tariff payments earlier in the fiscal year. Apple last week reported a $2.19 billion tariff refund for the June quarter.
Sports, led by juggernaut ESPN, saw profit of $853 million, down 17% on higher programming and production costs, on $4.5 billion in revenue. Disney cited contractual rate increases, costs for new sports rights and an impact from the timing of rights costs recognition as a result of the NBA contract renewal. Contributing to the lower-than-expected operating income were four-game sweeps in early rounds of the NBA playoffs and the impact of a network carriage dispute. Disney was likely referring here to the resolution terms of a fight with YouTube TV in late 2025.
After unlocking a selection of ESPN content on Disney+ domestically in 2024 and expanding it globally since then, the letter said, the company plans to deliver a more robust subset of games for Disney+ subscribers beginning this fall anchored by additional college football simulcasts. The service will also continue simulcasting college football pregame show College GameDay.
Here are the earnings estimates, what analysts are saying ahead of the report and the key items to watch.
• Walt Disney stock is showing downward pressure. What’s next for DIS stock?
Disney Q3 Earnings EstimatesAnalysts expect Disney to report third-quarter revenue of $25.40 billion, up from $23.65 billion in last year’s third quarter, according to data from Benzinga Pro.
The company has beaten analyst estimates for revenue in two straight quarters and in six of the past 10 quarters overall.
Analysts expect Disney to report quarterly earnings per share of $1.86, up from $1.61 in the past year’s third quarter.
The company has beaten analyst estimates for earnings per share in 12 straight quarters.
Disney Analyst Ratings and Price TargetsWhile some may see the streaming segment as a strength for Disney, Wells Fargo analyst Steven Cahall recently wrote that exiting the streaming business could boost Disney’s share price by 40%.
The analyst maintained an Overweight rating on the stock and lowered the price target from $146 to $125.
Cahall said the move would allow Disney to refocus on licensing and content creation, two of its key strengths.
"We lay out the case for DIS to return to its old biz model of producing versus distributing," Cahall said.
The analyst said Disney could earn around $4 billion annually from global licensing rights alone, along with $15 billion or more for the company’s content library. The items together would be a better cash generator than Disney’s direct-to-consumer business, the analyst said.
Here are other recent analyst ratings on Disney stock and their price targets:
Citigroup: Maintained Buy rating, lowered price target from $145 to $135 UBS: Maintained Buy rating, lowered price target from $138 to $133 Barclays: Maintained Overweight rating, lowered price target from $135 to $110 Benchmark: Initiated with Buy rating, price target $115 Key Items to WatchInvestors and analysts have priced Disney stock for more negativity ahead with lower price targets and the stock nearing a 15-month low.
"Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu" didn’t fare as well, with $177.7 million domestically and $345.1 million globally. This ranks among the lowest totals in Star Wars history. The film still ranks as the 10th highest domestic-grossing film.
Also ranking in eighth place is "The Devil Wears Prada 2" with $220.6 million domestically.
Those three films were all released in May and June and will go up against a 2025 period that had "Lilo & Stitch," which grossed $423.8 million domestically and over $1 billion worldwide.
The three films should come in higher than last year’s comparable period and could provide some upside depending on the cost of "Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu.”
Disney could also get investors excited with commentary on the record-breaking "Spider-Man: Brand New Day." The film comes from Sony, but Disney gets a portion of revenue and the performance could also set up a strong prediction for "Avengers: Doomsday."
The latest Avengers film will be released in theaters on Dec. 18. The film took in $16.5 million in ticket sales on its first day, as reported by Variety.
"Avengers: Endgame," released in 2019, brought in $858.4 million domestically and $2.80 billion worldwide, ranking second all-time for both categories.
Avengers ensemble films have performed among the best Marvel films and "Doomsday" could be just the spark that Disney stock needs going forward. Expect Disney to highlight this upcoming film slate.
Another area that could be a key topic, but might not be good for the stock, would be politics.
Disney recently issued a 109-page letter alleging the Federal Communications Commission has launched a "retaliation" campaign against the company on behalf of President Donald Trump.
Investors and analysts will also be looking at networking and DTC segments to see if advertising revenue is strong and how Disney+ is performing.
Another weak quarter for those areas could see renewed pushes for Disney to consider spinning off or splitting up units to unlock shareholder growth.
Disney Stock Price ActionDisney stock is up 0.29% to $98.43 on Tuesday versus a 52-week trading range of $92.19 to $119.78. Disney stock is down 12.1% year-to-date in 2026 and down over 17% in the last 52 weeks.
Photo Courtesy: Miguel Lagoa On Shutterstock.com
Market News and Data brought to you by Benzinga APIs
A $25,000 investment in Disney (DIS -2.36%) stock would pay about $379 in annual dividend income. This is based on Disney's current $1.50 annualized dividend ($0.75 per share, paid twice per year) and on buying 253 shares at a price of $98.80 per share at the time of writing.
The stock has been stuck in a trading range for the last three years and is still trading 51% below its all-time high over five years ago. Weaker margins and heavy spending to support streaming content kept the share price in check.
However, the company has been steadily growing its revenue recently. The stock trades at a modest 14 times forward earnings estimates. If Disney's upcoming earnings report on Aug. 5 shows improving margins and growth, investors may finally see a lift in the share price on top of a 1.5% yield.
Image source: The Motley Fool.
Disney's flywheel is working Disney has steadily increased its dividend over the past few years. The pandemic disruptions in 2020 led to a suspension of dividend payments until they were reinstated in 2023 at $0.30 per share,paid semiannually. Since then, the company has raised it multiple times, culminating in the current $0.75 semi-annual payment.
The growing dividend reflects improving profitability in the business. Since fiscal second-quarter 2023 (ended in March), trailing 12-month net income nearly tripled to $12.3 billion, representing a net profit margin of 12.7%.
New CEO Josh D'Amaro has been focused on building direct-to-consumer connections with customers and driving growth in experiences (parks, resorts, cruises, and consumer products). This is the Disney flywheel in action -- popular films and characters ultimately drive interest in Disney's theme parks, products, and streaming services.
This flywheel strategy has been working. Total revenue across the business grew 7% year over year last quarter to $25.2 billion, with adjusted earnings per share up 8% to $1.57. This was led by a 10% increase in entertainment (streaming, studios, etc.) revenue, followed by experiences (+7%), and sports (+2%), including ESPN.
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What matters on Aug. 5 When Disney reports fiscal third-quarter earnings on Aug. 5, investors will want to make sure it meets revenue and earnings expectations. The consensus analyst estimate calls for adjusted revenue of $25.4 billion, up 7.5% year over year, and earnings of $1.85, up 15%.
Disney has been facing pressure on domestic park attendance, so worsening consumer spending could cause it to miss estimates. That said, Disney is coming off a strong quarter in its experiences business and also saw accelerating revenue growth in streaming. This momentum could carry over to fiscal Q3, as implied by analysts' expectations.
Over the long term, growth in park attendance and cruise passengers, which grew 2% globally last quarter, and margin improvement in streaming will be key drivers of earnings and dividend growth. These are the two areas to watch closely when Disney reports earnings.
Disney v USA v srpnu odstaví Microsoft GitHub Copilot a další AI nástroje pro kódování. Místo toho plánuje nasadit OpenAI Codex a ponechá si Claude Enterprise a Cursor.
Disney is leaning into AI under CEO Josh D'Amaro, but it's dropping Microsoft's GitHub Copilot. Blanca Cruz / AFP via Getty Images; Illustration by Pavlo Gonchar/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images Disney has decided it no longer needs a Copilot on its AI coding journey.
The Mouse House is ditching Microsoft's GitHub Copilot and several other AI coding tools in August in the US, tech leaders told select staffers on Tuesday afternoon, according to a screenshot of an internal message viewed by Business Insider. These changes don't apply internationally, a Disney tech leader told employees.
A breakup with Disney is the latest headache for Microsoft's Copilot, which "lags behind" rivals like ChatGPT and Claude in adoption, as Business Insider's Ashley Stewart has reported. GitHub Copilot is the coding assistant in Microsoft's AI product suite.
Microsoft's loss is Sam Altman's win. Disney is preparing to adopt OpenAI's Codex coding tool, according to the screenshot. The message didn't give a timeline for the tool's introduction.
Disney will also keep staffers' access to Anthropic's Claude Enterprise and Cursor, while dropping two AI tools from Amazon: the agentic code editor Kiro and the AI assistant Q. (Claude will also no longer be accessible through the Amazon Web Services Bedrock platform.)
Copilot's challengesEight Disney tech employees told Business Insider that they rarely or never used GitHub Copilot.
One product manager said GitHub Copilot produced code that was "needlessly complex" and required clean-up.
A longtime software engineer said their access to GitHub Copilot had "lapsed for lack of use."
"Once I got Cursor and Kiro, there was no need to use it," this staffer said.
Copilot frustrated some users last month by updating its pricing to charge customers based on their AI token usage, which is industry-standard. The company said GitHub Copilot's request-based model was "no longer sustainable" as it unveiled the shift.
However, a Microsoft executive said in June that this move helped fuel the "best month ever" for the GitHub developer platform, Business Insider previously reported.
Microsoft has set out to revamp GitHub while shaking up its Copilot teams to help its many Copilot tools compete with rivals from OpenAI and Anthropic.
Disney staffers are enchanted by Claude and CursorClaude and Cursor have become fan favorites among Disney tech employees, as some superusers use agents to invoke those AI tools tens of thousands of times per day, Business Insider previously reported.
One high-level software engineer said their AI tool usage was "probably around 80% Claude at the terminal when coding."
Disney's streaming leaders created an AI adoption dashboard to track usage and have encouraged tech employees to use it to work faster, Business Insider previously reported.
"The No. 1 thing is to increase velocity," or the speed of output, a high-level AI staffer said.
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Wall Street expects a year-over-year increase in earnings on higher revenues when Walt Disney (DIS - Free Report) reports results for the quarter ended June 2026. While this widely-known consensus outlook is important in gauging the company's earnings picture, a powerful factor that could impact its near-term stock price is how the actual results compare to these estimates.
The earnings report, which is expected to be released on August 5, might help the stock move higher if these key numbers are better than expectations. On the other hand, if they miss, the stock may move lower.
While management's discussion of business conditions on the earnings call will mostly determine the sustainability of the immediate price change and future earnings expectations, it's worth having a handicapping insight into the odds of a positive EPS surprise.
Zacks Consensus EstimateThis entertainment company is expected to post quarterly earnings of $1.88 per share in its upcoming report, which represents a year-over-year change of +16.8%.
Revenues are expected to be $25.41 billion, up 7.4% from the year-ago quarter.
Estimate Revisions TrendThe consensus EPS estimate for the quarter has been revised 1.69% lower over the last 30 days to the current level. This is essentially a reflection of how the covering analysts have collectively reassessed their initial estimates over this period.
Investors should keep in mind that the direction of estimate revisions by each of the covering analysts may not always get reflected in the aggregate change.
Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise
Earnings WhisperEstimate revisions ahead of a company's earnings release offer clues to the business conditions for the period whose results are coming out. Our proprietary surprise prediction model -- the Zacks Earnings ESP (Expected Surprise Prediction) -- has this insight at its core.
The Zacks Earnings ESP compares the Most Accurate Estimate to the Zacks Consensus Estimate for the quarter; the Most Accurate Estimate is a more recent version of the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate. The idea here is that analysts revising their estimates right before an earnings release have the latest information, which could potentially be more accurate than what they and others contributing to the consensus had predicted earlier.
Thus, a positive or negative Earnings ESP reading theoretically indicates the likely deviation of the actual earnings from the consensus estimate. However, the model's predictive power is significant for positive ESP readings only.
A positive Earnings ESP is a strong predictor of an earnings beat, particularly when combined with a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), 2 (Buy) or 3 (Hold). Our research shows that stocks with this combination produce a positive surprise nearly 70% of the time, and a solid Zacks Rank actually increases the predictive power of Earnings ESP.
Please note that a negative Earnings ESP reading is not indicative of an earnings miss. Our research shows that it is difficult to predict an earnings beat with any degree of confidence for stocks with negative Earnings ESP readings and/or Zacks Rank of 4 (Sell) or 5 (Strong Sell).
How Have the Numbers Shaped Up for Disney?For Disney, the Most Accurate Estimate is lower than the Zacks Consensus Estimate, suggesting that analysts have recently become bearish on the company's earnings prospects. This has resulted in an Earnings ESP of -0.73%.
On the other hand, the stock currently carries a Zacks Rank of #3.
So, this combination makes it difficult to conclusively predict that Disney will beat the consensus EPS estimate.
Does Earnings Surprise History Hold Any Clue?Analysts often consider to what extent a company has been able to match consensus estimates in the past while calculating their estimates for its future earnings. So, it's worth taking a look at the surprise history for gauging its influence on the upcoming number.
For the last reported quarter, it was expected that Disney would post earnings of $1.49 per share when it actually produced earnings of $1.57, delivering a surprise of +5.37%.
Over the last four quarters, the company has beaten consensus EPS estimates four times.
Bottom LineAn earnings beat or miss may not be the sole basis for a stock moving higher or lower. Many stocks end up losing ground despite an earnings beat due to other factors that disappoint investors. Similarly, unforeseen catalysts help a number of stocks gain despite an earnings miss.
That said, betting on stocks that are expected to beat earnings expectations does increase the odds of success. This is why it's worth checking a company's Earnings ESP and Zacks Rank ahead of its quarterly release. Make sure to utilize our Earnings ESP Filter to uncover the best stocks to buy or sell before they've reported.
Disney doesn't appear a compelling earnings-beat candidate. However, investors should pay attention to other factors too for betting on this stock or staying away from it ahead of its earnings release.
Stay on top of upcoming earnings announcements with the Zacks Earnings Calendar.
Disney oznámil několik stovek propouštění včetně Pixaru, který podle zdroje přišel zhruba o 116 lidí. Škrty přicházejí i přes silný start „Toy Story 5“.
The Walt Disney Company has unleashed a fresh bloodbath across its entertainment empire, with Pixar taking a major hit despite the blockbuster success of “Toy Story 5.”
The “Mouse House” announced several hundred layoffs Tuesday in its third round of cuts this year, affecting Disney Entertainment Television, ESPN, corporate divisions and Disney Studios, according to SFist.
Pixar’s Emeryville animation studio was hit hardest within the film division. Disney has not confirmed how many Pixar workers lost their jobs, but a source told TheWrap that roughly 116 employees were laid off.
Disney has unleashed a fresh bloodbath across its entertainment empire, with Pixar taking a major hit. GC Images
Disney has not confirmed how many Pixar workers lost their jobs, but a source said around 116 employees were laid off. AFP via Getty Images Many of the Pixar cuts were concentrated in production and operations and reflected the studio’s current slate of projects rather than any single movie’s performance.
“These changes are part of our continual evaluation of how we manage resources and reinvest across the company as our industry continues to evolve,” a Disney spokesperson told the outlet.
The latest cuts come despite “Toy Story 5” delivering a massive box office debut after hitting theaters June 19.
The recent installment in the animated franchise raked in an estimated $312 million worldwide during its opening weekend, including a franchise-record $160 million domestically.
“We’re building a company that’s more agile,” Disney CEO Josh D’Amaro told employees in April. Getty Images for SXSW Pixar’s recent original movies, however, have produced more mixed results at the box office.
“Elio” posted the weakest opening weekend in the studio’s history, while “Hoppers” earned stronger reviews and better ticket sales but still fell short of Pixar’s established franchises’ commercial success.
The Emeryville studio has already endured repeated rounds of job cuts.
Disney then eliminated roughly 1,000 more positions in April across marketing, television, ESPN, technology, studio operations and corporate teams as it continued reshaping its workforce.
“We’re building a company that’s more agile and better equipped for how the entertainment business is changing,” Disney CEO Josh D’Amaro told employees in April.
Many of the eliminated ESPN positions were behind-the-scenes roles tied to the company’s integration of the NFL Network.
Employees were notified of the layoffs Tuesday morning. As of late 2025, Disney reportedly employed about 230,000 people worldwide.
Despite the latest cuts, Pixar’s upcoming slate still includes the original feature “Gatto,” directed by “Luca” filmmaker Enrico Casarosa, along with “Incredibles 3.”
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