In the second quarter of fiscal 2024, The Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS) reported adjusted earnings of $1.21 per share, surpassing the Consensus Estimate by 8.04% and marking a 30.1% increase from the previous year. Revenues rose 1.2% year-on-year to $22.08 billion but slightly missed the consensus mark by 0.23%. Despite this, Disney shares have seen a 16.7% year-to-date increase, contrasting with a 2.8% decline in the Consumer Discretionary sector.
Within the company’s segments, Media and Entertainment Distribution revenues (44.4% of revenues) saw a 5% decrease year-on-year to $9.79 billion, while Parks, Experiences, and Products revenues (38% of revenues) experienced a 9.8% year-on-year increase to $8.39 billion. Disney+ reported 117.6 million paid subscribers as of March 31, 2024, up from 111.3 million in the previous quarter, and Hulu ended the quarter with 50.2 million paid subscribers. ESPN+ had 24.8 million paid subscribers by the end of the fiscal second quarter. Operating income for the segment was $3.84 billion, up 17% year-on-year.
Costs & expenses decreased 1.7% year-on-year to $19.2 billion in the reported quarter, while segmental operating income reached $3.84 billion, a 17% year-on-year increase. Media and Entertainment Distribution’s segmental operating income surged 71.6% year-on-year to $781 million, and Parks, Experiences and Products’ operating income was $2.28 billion, up 12.3% year-on-year.
Cash and cash equivalents stood at $6.635 billion as of March 31, 2024, compared with $7.19 billion at the end of the previous quarter. Total borrowings were $39.51 billion compared with $47.68 billion as of December 31, 2023, and free cash flow was $2.407 billion in the reported quarter.
Looking ahead, Disney does not expect core subscriber growth at Disney+ in the fiscal third quarter but anticipates improvements in the fiscal fourth quarter. Entertainment Direct-to-Consumer (DTC) is expected to incur a loss in the third quarter. For the full year, Disney anticipates robust operating income growth at Experiences, with fiscal third-quarter operating income expected to be roughly comparable to the prior year. The company aims to meet or exceed the $7.5 billion annualized savings target by the end of fiscal 2024. Disney expects full-year fiscal 2024 earnings per share (EPS) to increase at least 25% from fiscal 2023, with free cash flow generation of roughly $8 billion. The combined streaming businesses are anticipated to reach profitability in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2024.
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