Theme Parks and 'Toy Story 5' Boost Disney Results -- WSJ
Dow Jones2026/08/05 10:32By Joe Flint
An increase in theme-park revenue and the huge box-office performance of "Toy Story 5" drove a jump in quarterly revenue for Disney, the company said Wednesday.
Revenue rose to $25.2 billion in the third fiscal quarter, up 7% from a year earlier, driven by a 10% increase in Disney's experiences unit, which includes its theme parks and cruise lines. Net income fell 50% to $2.6 billion because the year-earlier period included a one-time tax benefit. Excluding certain items, diluted earnings per share increased to $2.06 from $1.61.
Attendance at Disney's domestic parks grew 3% and per-capita spending was up 4% in the quarter, which ended in June. While international attendance at the domestic parks continued to be a challenge, Disney Chief Financial Officer Hugh Johnston said the company is more than filling the gap with growth from domestic guests.
The growth at parks comes as some rivals including Comcast's Universal have faced challenges due to economic headwinds. Disney Chief Executive Josh D'Amaro, who previously ran the company's parks and resorts operations, has given priority to creating new experiences and significantly increasing its number of cruise ships. The company has pledged to invest billions of dollars in experiences.
Pixar's "Toy Story 5" has passed $1 billion in global box-office sales since its June 19 release, and Disney credited the movie with boosting consumer-product sales. However, two of the company's other heavily anticipated recent releases -- "Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu" and this quarter's live action "Moana" -- underperformed.
At ESPN, strong ratings from the NBA and NHL finals helped drive advertising revenue. Operating income declined 17% to $858 million, in part because of shorter early round NBA playoff series.
Revenue from Disney's entertainment streaming business -- which includes Disney+ and Hulu -- increased 11% to $5.5 billion. Disney+ saw declines in churn for the quarter, and the company said its international programming strategy is delivering strong results and it plans to triple the number of local programs on the platform.
Disney+ is a priority for D'Amaro, who took over as CEO in March. He has said he wants the service to be the "digital centerpiece" of the company.
Disney also unveiled a new partnership with TikTok Wednesday that will allow users of the social-video platform to create content from Disney's library of franchises and intellectual property. The fan-created content will reside on TikTok and Disney+.
"This collaboration creates a new bridge between the stories we tell and the creativity they inspire," said Asad Ayaz, Disney's chief marketing and brand officer.
As expected, Disney sold its 50% stake in A&E Global Media, the parent of the A&E and History cable channels, to Hearst Corp., which owns the other half, for $1.2 billion. Disney said it plans to use the proceeds for share repurchases and now expects to buy back at least $9 billion of its stock in fiscal 2026.
The company said it would shift much of its consumer-product business from its experiences segment to the entertainment unit starting in October. In its letter to shareholders, Disney said the move will "better reflect the returns our Entertainment segment is generating from the content it produces."
Disney also said it recorded $100 million in a tariff refund in this quarter, which reversed its earlier tariff payments. It might receive additional refunds but the amounts will be insignificant, the company said.
Write to Joe Flint at Joe.Flint@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
August 05, 2026 06:32 ET (10:32 GMT)
Disclaimer: The content of this article solely reflects the author's opinion and does not represent the platform in any capacity. This article is not intended to serve as a reference for making investment decisions.
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