The American group’s platform takes off and records positive figures

For the first time, the streaming services of the American entertainment giant have become profitable. Good news for the multinational that has invested heavily in its Disney+ platform.

Disney’s video-on-demand services turned profitable for the first time in the third quarter of its staggered fiscal year. The group’s streaming segment includes Disney+, ESPN, which focuses on sports, and Hulu (cinema and audiovisual), of which Disney had held the majority since 2019, before buying the rest of the capital last November.

Between April and June, the group recorded a positive net result of 2.6 billion dollars (2.4 billion euros), compared to a net loss of 460 million (422 million euros) over the same period a year earlier. The multinational’s turnover increased by 3.6% over a year, reaching 23.2 billion dollars (21.3 billion euros). That of the streaming segment increased by 15%.

The good performance of streaming services is good news for Disney, which has invested heavily in this segment, after starting late compared to its competitor Netflix in particular. “Disney has finally found the formula to make streaming profitable,” Third Bridge analyst Jamie Lumley pointed out in a note: “This finally puts Disney on the list of streaming companies that are, along with Netflix.”

The group announced on Tuesday, August 6, a new increase in the prices of its basic subscriptions, which in the United States will go from $7.99 (7.33 euros) per month to $9.99 (9.16 euros). “Every time we’ve raised prices, we’ve seen a very low rate of subscriber loss, nothing that we would consider significant,” said the group’s CEO, Bob Iger, during a conference call with analysts.

On the cinema side, Disney is also benefiting from the excellent reception of Inside Out 2still showing, the film’s worldwide revenues now exceed $1.5 billion (€1.4 billion), with only a portion attributable to the past quarter. For the current quarter, the group should also benefit from the release of its latest Marvel film, Deadpool & Wolverine, July 26.

These results did not, however, impress the markets: Disney shares ended the session on Wednesday, August 7 on Wall Street down sharply by 4.47%, at 85.95 dollars (78.8 euros), with investors being disappointed in particular by the performance of the theme parks, whose profitability is falling.