Disney ready to challenge Netflix as the next profitable streaming company
Disney ready to challenge Netflix as the next profitable streaming company
Disney streamers generated $321 million in profit in its fiscal fourth quarter, allowing them to end the year with a net surplus.
Netflix may have to make some room for new arrivals at the club of profitable streaming services. Disney shared its fiscal fourth-quarter earnings results on Thursday, and as part of the report, showed that its streaming segment — including Disney+, Hulu, and ESPN+ — had turned in a net profit for 2024, with aid from an especially strong fourth quarter.
Key Details:
- Disney streamers showed a profit of $321 million during the fourth quarter.
- Those results allowed Disney’s streaming services to record a $134 million profit for the entirety of 2024.
- Linear network revenue fell 6% year-over-year for the company in 2024.
The Disney earnings report showed that its streaming segment ended the company’s fiscal Q4 with a profit of $321 million. Combined with its results from the rest of the year, the company’s streamers were able to generate a profit of $134 million total. Signs have been pointing in this direction for months; starting when Disney+ and Hulu showed a small profit in the company’s fiscal Q2 earlier this year.
That’s an impressive two-year improvement for the company. It ended 2023 losing $387 million on its streaming services, but even that was a big revenue jump over 2022 when Disney streamers lost $2.6 billion. That number was large enough to cause then-CEO Bob Chapek’s dismissal and the return of former chief executive Bob Iger to the top spot in the corporate pyramid.
As referenced, Netflix is the only streaming service that shows a consistent profit quarter over quarter. Other services are striving for the same goal, but regular profitability has thus far eluded them. Warner Bros. Discovery’s streamer Max has come the closest, showing a profit in some quarters, but it has not been able to stay in the black from quarter to quarter.
The results weren’t as good for Disney’s linear networks in its fiscal 2024. The company saw that segment’s revenue fall 6% this year to $2.46 billion, and while it still shows an operating profit, that number slipped to $489 million, a decline of 38% year-over-year.
Disney now has a total of 236.2 million global streaming customers, and if it can maintain regular profits from its streaming segment, it will be better able to withstand continued losses from its linear networks thanks to cord-cutting. The company appears to be in a solid position to transition to digital-first entertainment in the near future, an enviable position compared to many other legacy media outlets.
Disney+
Disney+ is a video streaming service with over 13,000 series and films from Disney, Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars, National Geographic, The Muppets, and more. It is available in 61 countries and 21 languages. It is notable for its popular original series like “The Mandalorian,” “Ms. Marvel,” “Loki,” “Obi-Wan Kenobi,” and “Andor.”