Disney reported its second-quarter results for its fiscal 2022 on Wednesday. The company’s shares were down over 4 percent before Thursday’s bell and come on the heels of a 52-week low of $104.79 recorded earlier on Wednesday.
The company reported earnings per share of $1.08, adjusted for the quarter. Revenue came in at $19.25 billion. This includes a $1 billion reduction resulting from the early termination of some licensing agreements.
The company also reported Disney plus total subscriptions of 137.7 million. This surpassed analysts’ estimates of 135 million, according to StreetAccount. According to CFO Christine McCarthy while speaking with analysts during the company’s earnings call, the company expects Disney plus net additions to be better in the second half of the fiscal year than in the first. She emphasized that the rate of change “may not be as large as previously anticipated.”
Although the company reported better-than-expected subscriber growth, it said that the impact of the coronavirus pandemic is still at play on its theme parks in Asia.
Average revenue per user (ARPU) for domestic Disney plus subscribers was up 5 percent to $6.32. “Our strong results in the second quarter, including a fantastic performance at our domestic parks and continued growth of our streaming services — with 7.9 million Disney+ subscribers added in the quarter and total subscriptions across all our DTC offerings exceeding 205 million — once again proved that we are in a league of our own,” CEO Bob Chapek said in a statement published on Wednesday.
Disney’s results have been highly anticipated after rival Netflix reported that it lost 200,000 subscribers in the first quarter of 2022.
Disney showed a lot of recovery from the covid restrictions. Revenues for its parks, experiences, and product segments more than doubled to $6.7 billion during the quarter. An increase in attendance, hotel bookings, ticket prices, spending on food and merchandise, and cruise ship sailings did the trick.
The company’s shares have declined 30 percent since January and over 40 percent compared to the year-ago period amid several challenges.
