Disney reports earnings for quarter ended December 28, 2024

BURBANK, Calif. — The Walt Disney Company (NYSE: DIS) today reported earnings for its first fiscal quarter ended December 28, 2024.

Key Points:

Entertainment: Segment operating income increased $0.8 billion to $1.7 billion

• Direct-to-Consumer operating income increased $431 million to $293 million
• Direct-to-Consumer advertising revenue declined 2%; excluding the Disney+ Hotstar service in India*, Direct-to-Consumer advertising revenue was up 16% vs. Q1 fiscal 2024
• 178 million Disney+ and Hulu subscriptions, an increase of 0.9 million vs. Q4 fiscal 2024
• 125 million Disney+ subscribers, a decrease of 0.7 million vs. Q4 fiscal 2024
• Content Sales/Licensing and Other operating income increased $536 million to $312 million driven by the performance of Moana 2

Sports: Segment operating income increased $350 million to $247 million

• Domestic ESPN advertising revenue up 15% vs. Q1 fiscal 2024

* The Disney+ Hotstar service in India had advertising revenue of approximately $15 million in Q1 fiscal 2025 and $165 million in Q1 fiscal 2024.

Entertainment – Direct-to-Consumer – Key Metrics

In addition to revenue, costs and operating income, management uses the following key metrics to analyze trends and evaluate the overall performance of our Disney+ and Hulu direct-to-consumer (DTC) product offerings, and we believe these metrics are useful to investors in analyzing the business. The following tables and related discussion are on a sequential quarter basis.

Paid subscribers (in millions) as of:

                              December 28,  September 28,
                                      2024           2024  Change
                             -------------  -------------  ------
Disney+
 Domestic (U.S. and Canada)           56.8           56.0      1%
 International[1]                     67.8           69.3    (2)%
  Total Disney+[1][2]                124.6          125.3    (1)%

Hulu
 SVOD Only                            49.0           47.4      3%
 Live TV + SVOD                        4.6            4.6      —%
  Total Hulu[2]                       53.6           52.0      3%

Average Monthly Revenue Per Paid Subscriber for the quarter ended:

                              December 28,  September 28,
                                      2024           2024  Change
                             -------------  -------------  ------
Disney+
 Domestic (U.S. and Canada)          $7.99          $7.70      4%
 International[1]                     7.19           6.78      6%
  Disney+[1]                          7.55           7.20      5%
Hulu
 SVOD Only                           12.52          12.54      —%
 Live TV + SVOD                      99.22          95.82      4%

1. The sequential prior quarter Paid Subscribers and Average Monthly Revenue per Paid Subscriber have been adjusted to include Disney+ subscribers in Southeast Asia, which were previously reported with Disney+ Hotstar. Disney+ Hotstar is no longer presented as this business was included in the Star India Transaction.
2. Total may not equal the sum of the column due to rounding

Domestic Disney+ average monthly revenue per paid subscriber increased from $7.70 to $7.99 due to increases in pricing, partially offset by a higher mix of subscribers to promotional offerings.

International Disney+ average monthly revenue per paid subscriber increased from $6.78 to $7.19 due to increases in pricing and higher advertising revenue, partially offset by a higher mix of subscribers to promotional offerings.

Hulu SVOD Only average monthly revenue per paid subscriber was comparable to the prior sequential quarter as lower advertising revenue was offset by increases in pricing and a higher mix of subscribers to higher priced multi-product offerings.

Hulu Live TV + SVOD average monthly revenue per paid subscriber increased from $95.82 to $99.22 primarily due to increases in pricing.

Sports – ESPN+ – Key Metrics

In addition to revenue, costs and operating income, management uses the following key metrics to analyze trends and evaluate the overall performance of our ESPN+ DTC product offering, and we believe these metrics are useful to investors in analyzing the business. The following table is on a sequential quarter basis.

                                      December 28,  September 28,
                                              2024           2024  Change
                                     -------------  -------------  ------
Paid subscribers at: (in millions)            24.9           25.6    (3)%
Average Monthly Revenue Per Paid
  Subscriber for the quarter ended:          $6.36          $5.94      7%

ESPN+ average monthly revenue per paid subscriber increased from $5.94 to 6.36 due to increases in pricing and higher advertising revenue.