Walt Disney (NYSE:DIS) has posted better-than-anticipated first-quarter earnings, as the media giant was bolstered in large part by returns during the holiday period from its animated film "Moana 2".
Shares in Disney were hovering above the flatline in premarket U.S. trading on Wednesday.
Operating income from Disney's Entertainment division, which folds in its television, streaming, and film studio, surged by 95% versus the year-ago period to $1.7 billion. Analysts had seen the figure at $1.45 billion.
Underpinning the number was "Moana 2", which has raked in over $1 billion in box office sales. The strong performance has helped to offset weakness at its traditional television business, where operating income at Disney's linear networks unit slumped by 11% to $1.1 billion.
Subscribers to its key streaming service also edged down by 1% versus the previous quarter to 124.6 million. Disney had previously said it would be hit by a slight decrease in subscribers in the wake of a planned price bump that took effect in October.
Still, its combined Disney+, Hulu, and ESPN+ offerings logged income of $293 million, in the latest sign of recovery in the streaming options after they posted a loss of $138 million a year ago.
Meanwhile, Disney's Experiences division, which folds in its parks, cruises and consumer products segments, registered operating income of $3.1 billion, a marginal year-on-year uptick of 0.2%. Hurricanes in Florida, where the company has its Disney World theme parks, impacted performance at the unit.
Overall, Disney reported fiscal first-quarter adjusted earnings per share of $1.76, beating Bloomberg consensus estimates of $1.42. Revenue moved up by 5% to $24.69 billion, also just ahead of expectations. Group-wide operating income came in at $5.1 billion, a 31% increase.
"Our results this quarter demonstrate Disney's creative and financial strength as we advanced the strategic initiatives set in motion over the past two year," said CEO Bob Iger in a statement.
(This is a developing story. Please check back later for updates.)
