The Walt Disney Company (NYSE: DIS) today reported earnings for its fourth quarter and fiscal year ended October 2, 2021.
During the pandemic, Walt Disney has successfully fueled the meteoric growth of Disney+, its direct-to-consumer video streaming service, as millions of people have sheltered and worked at home.
The entertainment giant posted revenue of $18.53 billion compared to last quarter which was around $14 billion in 2020.
“This has been a very productive year for The Walt Disney Company, as we’ve made great strides in reopening our businesses while taking meaningful and innovative steps in Direct-to-Consumer and at our Parks, particularly with our popular new Disney Genie and Magic Key offerings,” said Bob Chapek, Chief
Executive Officer, The Walt Disney Company. “As we celebrate the two-year anniversary of Disney+, we’re extremely pleased with the success of our streaming business, with 179 million total subscriptions across our DTC portfolio at the end of fiscal 2021 and 60% subscriber growth year-over-year for Disney+. We continue to manage our DTC business for the long-term, and are confident that our high-quality entertainment and expansion into additional markets worldwide will enable us to further grow our streaming platforms globally.”
Disney+ subscribers of 118.1 million for the fiscal fourth quarter compared to the third quarter’s 116.0 million. Including subscribers to Disney’s sports streaming platform ESPN+ and Hulu, the company had a total of 179 million paid streaming subscribers.
The net income from continuing operations for this quarter is around $160 million soared from the last prior quarter which was in loss of $710 million.
It also reflects in earning per share which is now 9 cents per share compared to the loss of 39 cents per share in the prior-year quarter.
The average monthly revenue per paid subscriber for Disney+ decreased from $4.52 to $4.12 due to a higher mix of Disney+ Hotstar subscribers in the current quarter compared to the prior-year quarter.
The average monthly revenue per paid subscriber for ESPN+ increased from $4.54 to $4.74 due to an increase in retail pricing, partially offset by a higher mix of subscribers to the bundled offerings.
Disney Parks, Experiences, and Products revenues for the quarter increased to $5.5 billion compared to $2.7 billion in the prior-year quarter. Segment operating results increased $1.6 billion to an income of $640 million. Operating income for the quarter reflected increases at our domestic and international parks and experiences businesses, partially offset by a decrease at our consumer products business
Financial Statement:
The following table summarizes the fourth-quarter results for fiscal 2021 and 2020 (in millions, except per share amounts):
| Quarter Ended | Year Ended | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| October 2, 2021 | October 3, 2020 | Change | October 2, 2021 | October 3, 2020 | Change | ||||||||||||||||||
| Revenues | $ | 18,534 | $ | 14,707 | 26 | % | $ | 67,418 | $ | 65,388 | 3 | % | |||||||||||
| Income (loss) from continuing operations before income taxes | $ | 290 | $ | (580 | ) | nm | $ | 2,561 | $ | (1,743 | ) | nm | |||||||||||
| Total segment operating income(1) | $ | 1,587 | $ | 606 | >100% | $ | 7,766 | $ | 8,108 | (4 | )% | ||||||||||||
| Net income (loss) from continuing operations(2) | $ | 160 | $ | (710 | ) | nm | $ | 2,024 | $ | (2,832 | ) | nm | |||||||||||
| Diluted EPS from continuing operations(2) | $ | 0.09 | $ | (0.39 | ) | nm | $ | 1.11 | $ | (1.57 | ) | nm | |||||||||||
| Diluted EPS excluding certain items(1) | $ | 0.37 | $ | (0.20 | ) | nm | $ | 2.29 | $ | 2.02 | 13 | % | |||||||||||
| Cash provided by continuing operations | $ | 2,632 | $ | 1,667 | 58 | % | $ | 5,566 | $ | 7,616 | (27 | )% | |||||||||||
| Free cash flow(1) | $ | 1,522 | $ | 938 | 62 | % | $ | 1,988 | $ | 3,594 | (45 | )% | |||||||||||
