Wall Street Turns Its Back on Disney’s Streaming Profit Milestone | Analysis

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The company turned a corner but Iger may be settling into a more conservative growth strategy

bob iger
Disney CEO Bob Iger (Getty Images)

With the lingering impacts of the Hollywood strikes still weighing on its studios, Disney turned a quarterly profit of $47 million with Disney+ and Hulu — the first time those two entertainment streamers ended a quarter in the black, the company said Tuesday. 

Yet despite hitting the milestone two quarters ahead of schedule — and trimming its overall streaming losses by 97% — Wall Street punished Disney’s stock, sending shares down more than 9%.

What was going on? Disney could only declare a streaming profit without including ESPN+, which continues to struggle, losing $65 million in the quarter. And Disney said its overall streaming business would still be unprofitable in its next quarter and not truly turn the corner until the fourth quarter or more likely next year.

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