Disney nears tipping point as streaming profits start to offset cable decline

Disney on Thursday reported its second straight quarterly profit for the streaming business [File]
| Photo Credit: REUTERS

Bob Iger returned to Walt Disney as CEO in 2022 with a bold promise of making streaming profitable.

The latest quarterly results have shown signs of a turnaround at the storied media company, suggesting that Iger may be getting the House of Mickey Mouse in order by focusing on its streaming business.

Disney on Thursday reported its second straight quarterly profit for the streaming business, riding on cost-cutting measures and a 4.4 million jump in subscribers after it started cracking down on password-sharing by users.

Its $253 million operating profit for the streaming business in the fourth quarter nearly offset the $307 million that its traditional television business shed in operating income.

The hope is that Disney’s streaming business will start to do more “heavy lifting” as it improves and linear television declines, said Ben Barringer, technology analyst at Quilter Cheviot.

“It has the tech and the product in Disney+, it now just needs to utilise it in the right way to drive profit growth and challenge the other streaming giants,” he added.

The company began cracking down on password-sharing in June, following in the footsteps of streaming giant Netflix, betting it would lead to a jump in subscriber numbers and higher revenue.

“The right way to think about Disney is to add together the shrinking linear TV business and the rapidly growing direct-to-consumer business, because Disney is hedged,” Needham & Co senior research analyst Laura Martin said.

“Disney has reached the cross over point,” Martin added.

The results show that a turnaround started by Iger was paying off. Since he returned, Disney has cut back on original content for its streaming service after a spending spree under predecessor Bob Chapek that led to streaming quarterly losses of $1.5 billion in November 2022.

Since last year, Disney has been consistently raising prices for Disney+ in an attempt to boost margins, with the most recent one having come into effect in October.

The company continues to produce original programs such as “Only Murders in the Building” for Hulu and “Agatha All Along” for Disney+, but it also relies on new film releases to spur viewership of related content.

For instance, the release of “Deadpool & Wolverine” and Pixar Animation’s “Inside Out 2” prompted users to watch older movies in the franchise this year, company executives said.

“Theatrical film is the engine behind its powerful flywheel and continued success at the box office will help translate to continued streaming engagement,” said Wade Payson-Denney, media analyst at Parrot Analytics.