Disney’s streaming business is close to being out of the red, narrowing its losses to just US$18 million in Q2. And the entertainment side of the DTC division actually turned a US$47-million profit this quarter, compared to losing US$587 million last year. 

Releasing its latest quarterly results this morning, the Mouse House has reported a US$20-million overall net loss for the fiscal period that ended on March 30, 2024 (compared to a profit of US$1.2 billion a year ago). 

Disney’s theme park business continued its strong performance streak with a 10% uptick in revenue. Meanwhile, Disney+ added six million new subscribers to reach a total of 117.6 million, with Disney CFO Hugh Johnston noting in the earnings call that the streamer’s ad-based tier reached 22.5 million subs this quarter. “The path to long-term profitability is not a linear one,” he cautioned, adding that core Disney+ subscriptions are not expected to grow next quarter, but should bounce back in Q4, when the overall streaming segment is expected to hit profitability. 

Disney has had a quieter Q2 in terms of its theatrical business, especially compared to this time last year, when Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania and Avatar: Way of the Water were driving lots of ticket sales. But CEO Bob Iger was bullish about the rest of 2024—pointing to a lineup of buzzworthy family releases, from Pixar’s summer tentpole Inside Out 2 (pictured) to Moana 2 and Mufasa: The Lion King later in the year.

This sequel/prequel-heavy schedule is part of a strategy to navigate a more risk-averse market by investing in established franchises, particularly in animation. Meanwhile, Iger says the goal for comic book powerhouse Marvel Studios is to reduce output to roughly four projects per year going forward—ideally two TV series and two films. 

Regarding content licensing, Iger said the company is “selectively” assessing opportunities at the moment, though it has already licensed some titles to Netflix. “We had previously thought that exclusivity [had] huge value—it definitely does have some value. But we’re also watching as some studios have licensed content to third-party streamers, and that creates more traction, more awareness.”