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E-mail Xinhua, November 15, 2024
The Walt Disney Company on Thursday announced a strong performance for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2024, highlighting the successes of the company's film division and growth in streaming.
Revenues increased 6 percent for the quarter ending Sept. 28 to 22.6 billion U.S. dollars from 21.2 billion dollars in the prior-year quarter, and 3 percent for the year to 91.4 billion dollars from 88.9 billion dollars in the prior year, according to the company.
Diluted earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter increased 79 percent to 0.25 dollars from 0.14 dollars in the prior-year quarter, and for the year more than doubled to 2.72 dollars from 1.29 dollars in the prior year, said the entertainment giant in its latest earnings report.
The company noted its entertainment segment operating income improved significantly, to 1.1 billion dollars, up 0.8 billion dollars in the fourth quarter versus the prior-year quarter.
The company pointed out that the renewed creative strength at Disney's studios is a result of the extensive work the company began two years ago to restore creativity to the center of the company. That includes Disney's performance at the summer box office, as it became the first studio to cross 4 billion dollars globally in 2024.
In fact, the fourth quarter was one of the best quarters in the history of the studios, as Pixar's "Inside Out 2" and Marvel's "Deadpool & Wolverine" broke numerous box office records, becoming the top two movies of the year to date, the company added.
As for television, Disney said its branded series and general entertainment programming are performing exceptionally well, drawing new audiences and winning an unprecedented number of accolades. The best example of this is Disney's historic night at this year's 76th Emmy Awards in which the company was awarded a record-breaking 60 Emmy Awards.
In addition, the company's entertainment direct-to-consumer (DTC) delivered 14 percent ad revenue growth in the fourth quarter, contributing to 253 million dollars in operating income, and the company's combined DTC streaming businesses improved their profitability in the quarter, with operating income of 321 million dollars.
The company ended the quarter with 174 million Disney+ Core and Hulu subscriptions, and more than 120 million Disney+ Core paid subscribers, an increase of 4.4 million over the prior quarter.
"We have emerged from a period of considerable challenges and disruption, and we're well positioned for growth," Robert A. Iger, chief executive officer of The Walt Disney Company, told analysts on a post-earnings call, noting that "we put in place specific strategies to generate growth across our businesses, and our solid results this quarter are a clear indication they've been successful."
