BURBANK, California, May 6, 2026, 06:05 PDT
Disney topped analyst expectations on both earnings and revenue Wednesday, giving shares a lift of more than 4% in premarket trading. The company logged adjusted earnings of $1.57 per share with revenue reaching $25.2 billion for the quarter that closed March 28—outperforming LSEG data forecasts of $1.49 and $24.78 billion, Reuters reported. Streaming gains and robust park spending helped anchor new CEO Josh D’Amaro’s opening moves.
Timing is key here. D’Amaro is stepping into the spotlight with his first earnings release since taking over from Bob Iger in mid-March. Investors are watching to see if Disney can keep driving up profits at Disney+ and Hulu, even as consumers grow cautious at theme parks and ESPN deals with pricier sports rights. D’Amaro, alongside Chief Financial Officer Hugh Johnston, told shareholders they’re looking for “growth to accelerate in the second half” of the fiscal year. Reuters
Disney pegged its adjusted earnings growth for fiscal 2026 at roughly 12%—that’s not counting the extra reporting week. Add that in, and the figure jumps to about 16%. The company is also aiming for a minimum of $8 billion in share buybacks, and it’s projecting third-quarter segment operating income around $5.3 billion, according to a filing.
Disney’s revenue was up 7% from the same period last year, with total segment operating income reaching $4.6 billion, a 4% increase. Net income attributable to Disney came in at $2.25 billion, down from $3.28 billion a year ago, affected in part by a tax benefit booked last year. Adjusted earnings per share—which exclude restructuring costs and amortization—were $1.57, up 8%.
Streaming stood out. Operating income from Disney+ and Hulu’s subscription-streaming, not counting live-TV offerings like Hulu Live TV and Fubo, jumped 88% to $582 million and brought in a 10.6% margin. Disney credited the jump to a 13% rise in revenue, pointing to pricier subscriptions, more subscribers and stronger ad sales in the segment.
Parks didn’t stumble as much as some investors had worried. Revenue from the Experiences segment—which covers theme parks, cruises, and consumer merchandise—reached $9.49 billion, a 7% gain. Operating income climbed 5% to $2.62 billion. Domestic park foot traffic slipped 1%, weighed down by fewer international visitors heading to the U.S. Still, Disney described demand at home as strong, and per-guest spending at its domestic parks was up 5%.
Entertainment revenue climbed 10% to $11.72 billion, while operating income increased 6% to $1.34 billion. The company pointed to subscription gains, better effective rates, and a lift from theatrical releases like “Avatar: Fire and Ash,” “Zootopia 2,” and “Hoppers.” “Zootopia 2” alone pulled in $1.9 billion at the worldwide box office and pushed the franchise past the 1 billion hours streamed mark on Disney+.
Sports lagged. Revenue for the ESPN-driven sports segment climbed 2% to $4.61 billion, but operating income slipped 5% to $652 million as the cost of production and rights moved higher. Disney pointed to a boost in subscription and affiliate fees, helped by increased rates and the NFL deal. Still, that was tempered by a drop in subscribers and no UFC pay-per-view income compared to last year.
D’Amaro is betting on a trio: ramped-up intellectual property, tapping a wider swath of consumers, and weaving more technology into Disney’s offerings. In his letter to shareholders, he wrote that Disney+ ought to feel “more engaging, more personalized,” with the kind of presence that makes it a go-to for Disney fans—not just a place to scroll through old movies and shows.
The push for that product lands just as competitors like Netflix and Paramount+ experiment with short-form and vertical video inside their own streaming platforms. Disney, for its part, described artificial intelligence as a long-term play spanning content, monetization, workflow efficiency, and guest-facing tech—though it’s scrapping its planned OpenAI investment now that Sora has gone offline.
Still, the quarter hardly erased every worry. U.S. park attendance is lagging, consumers haven’t caught a break from inflation or steeper energy bills, and ESPN’s bottom line is at the mercy of pricey live sports rights. Should streaming price hikes lose momentum or if demand at the parks stumbles, that second-half lift D’Amaro’s banking on could quickly lose steam.
Investors, for the moment, saw the beat as a straightforward early win for D’Amaro. The real challenge is still ahead: showing that Disney can translate streaming profits, expanded parks, and ESPN’s push into direct-to-consumer into reliable earnings growth. That’s after years of choppy media returns.
