The Walt Disney Company reported its FY2025 first quarter earnings on Wednesday, with CEO Bob Iger and CFO Hugh Johnston discussing how the company’s results this quarter demonstrate Disney’s “creative and financial strength as we advanced strategic growth initiatives set in motion over the past two years.”
Business Focus
“In Q1 we saw outstanding box office performance from our studios, which had the top three movies of 2024; we further improved the profitability of our Entertainment DTC streaming businesses; we took an important step to advance ESPN’s digital strategy by adding an ESPN tile on Disney+; and our Experiences segment demonstrated its enduring appeal as we continue investing strategically across the globe,” Iger and Johnston said in an executive commentary on Wednesday.
Film
Iger and Johnston noted that the company’s theatrical releases had an outstanding run at the global box office in calendar year 2024, with Disney becoming the first studio in the industry post-pandemic to surpass $5 billion worldwide. The first quarter continued Disney’s box office hot streak with impressive performances from both Moana 2 (which recently crossed $1 billion globally at the box office) as well as Mufasa: The Lion King generating more than $650 million globally as of this past weekend.
Disney’s studios have also garnered critical success. The company received 15 Oscar nominations — including eight for Searchlight Pictures’ A Complete Unknown.
Why It Matters: “With multiple consumer touchpoints, we continue to generate ongoing, long-term value from our theatrical releases, and we now have more ways to leverage film success than ever before,” Iger and Johnston said.
A prime example of Disney’s dynamic strategy can be seen with Moana. The film franchise is approaching $1.7 billion at the global box office; the 2016 original was the most-streamed movie in the U.S. on any platform for the second year in a row; and characters and stories from the franchise continue to delight guests across Disney’s Experiences segment.
Television
On the smaller screen, the company’s series have also continued to demonstrate widespread popularity and acclaim. In calendar year 2024, Disney had the top four most streamed shows in the U.S., led by Bluey with more than 55 billion minutes viewed on Disney+, along with Grey’s Anatomy, Family Guy, and Bob’s Burgers. Disney also won six Golden Globe Awards, with the epic Shōgun sweeping all its nominated categories. As for ABC News, it also shined with ABC’s World News Tonight with David Muir being the No. 1 newscast for the ninth year in a row in 2024.
Notable Quote: “We are especially proud of the remarkable journalists and producers at ABC News and our local affiliate KABC for the work they have done to keep the public informed during the devastating wildfires in Southern California,” Iger and Johnston added.
Streaming
In December Disney introduced an ESPN tile on Disney+, which provided bundle subscribers with the full range of ESPN+ sports content and select ESPN content available to all Disney+ subscribers (including certain live sports events and games). Iger and Johnston announced that new live sports studio shows that will be exclusive to Disney+ later this year. That includes a daily SportsCenter called SC+.
Why It Matters: “Streaming remains a success story for the Company as we build Disney+ into the ultimate digital destination for audiences to access the very best we have to offer in film, television, sports, and news — all in one place,” Iger and Johnston said. “And our Q1 Entertainment Direct-To-Consumer results reflected improved profitability.”
Sports
Iger and Johnston pointed out that live sports have “the power to convene enormous audiences,” which was shown by the 2024 season of Monday Night Football being ESPN’s second-most-watched in the company’s 19-year history of airing the NFL franchise. Disney’s first season broadcasting the entirety of the SEC schedule was also a hit, contributing to strong ratings across the company’s college football programming. In 2024, ABC averaged 5.8 million viewers for 46 regular season games — ABC’s best college football season in 15 years.
More to Know: “ESPN’s flagship offering that will launch in early fall has been and remains our priority,” Iger and Johnston said. “And we expect the elevated product and content experience — which will all be housed within the ESPN app — will be a digital destination for sports fans unlike anything available in the marketplace today, with the full suite of ESPN’s networks and ESPN+, and highly interactive and personalized features.
Experiences
In Q1, Disney launched the Disney Treasure — the sixth ship in Disney Cruise Line’s fleet — and opened Tiana’s Bayou Adventure at Disneyland Resort. Looking ahead, 2025 is a big year for the company’s Experiences segment with it kicking off Disneyland’s 70th anniversary celebration in May and Hong Kong Disneyland’s 20th anniversary celebration later this year.
Why It Matters: “Our Q1 results for our Experiences segment demonstrated Disney’s strong and enduring appeal in family travel,” Iger and Johnston said. “We continue work on a robust slate of new projects as we bring our most popular IP to life in innovative ways and execute against a carefully designed and planned investment strategy. We also remain deliberate about pricing and the guest experience, and are focused on providing guests great value with a vast array of options to visit our theme parks.”
Wrap Up
Iger and Johnston concluded their executive commentary on Wednesday by saying that the quarter overall proved to be “a strong start to the fiscal year.”
“We are optimistic about the year to come,” the two said. “And we remain confident in our strategy for continued growth.”
The information above should be read together with Disney’s Q1 FY 25 Earnings Report, Form 10-Q, prepared earnings remarks (executive commentary), and earnings call (all available here), which discuss additional information, including additional challenges and risks the company’s businesses face and additional information about Q1 performance.
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