Disney Q4 bolstered by strong results from streaming, 'Inside Out 2' and 'Deadpool & Wolverine'

Disney Cruise Line's newest ship, The Treasure, arrives at dawn Port Canaveral, Fla., Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2024. (Joe Burbank/Orlando Sentinel via AP) · Associated Press · ASSOCIATED PRESS

Disney's fourth-quarter adjusted profit beat Wall Street's expectations, bolstered by strong results from its streaming service and box office success with “Inside Out 2” and “Deadpool & Wolverine.”

Disney earned $460 million, or 25 cents per share, for the period ended Sept. 28. A year earlier the Burbank, California-based company earned $264 million, or 14 cents per share.

Removing certain items, earnings were $1.14 per share. This topped the $1.09 per share that analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research were looking for.

Shares jumped more than 9% before the market open on Thursday.

Revenue climbed 6% to $22.57 billion, but fell a bit short of Wall Street's estimate of $22.59 billion.

Operating income for the entertainment segment, which includes its movie studio and parts of its television wing, more than quadrupled to $1.07 billion.

This was helped in part by a strong performance from its content/sales, licensing and other segment, which benefited from $316 million in operating income from “Inside Out 2” and “Deadpool & Wolverine.”

The Walt Disney Co. said Thursday that its direct-to-consumer business, which includes Disney+ and Hulu, reported quarterly operating income of $253 million compared with an operating loss of $420 million a year earlier. Revenue rose 15% to $5.78 billion.

The combined streaming businesses, which includes Disney+, Hulu and ESPN+, achieved profitability for the first time in the third quarter.

Disney+ saw a 2% increase in paid subscribers domestically, which includes the U.S. and Canada. It had a 5% rise internationally, which excludes Disney+ HotStar.

Disney ended the quarter with 174 million Disney+ Core and Hulu subscriptions, and more than 120 million Disney+ Core paid subscribers, an increase of 4.4 million over the prior quarter.

Disney said that its improved direct-to-consumer business results were due in part to subscription revenue growth thanks to increased in retail pricing and subscriber growth. Advertising revenue also increased and marketing costs at Disney+ declined.

"This was a pivotal and successful year for The Walt Disney Company, and thanks to the significant progress we’ve made, we have emerged from a period of considerable challenges and disruption well positioned for growth and optimistic about our future,” CEO Bob Iger said in a statement.

Iger was confident about the future of Disney's streaming platform on the company's conference call, noting that whenever Disney has success with a movie, or there's expected success for a movie, like with “Inside Out 2” and “Deadpool & Wolverine,” the viewership for previous films, like “Inside Out” and “Deadpool,” spikes significantly on its streaming service. Iger anticipates this trend will continue in the future.