Disney stock hits 4-month high as US parks book profit

Walt Disney Co. shares surged to a four-month high Friday morning after the entertainment giant reported strong quarterly results as its U.S. theme parks business returned to profitability for the first time since the pandemic began. 

Shares of the Burbank, California-based entertainment company climbed by as much as 4.62% to $187.58 apiece. At that level, they were 7.64% below their record high of $201.91 set in March. 

Ticker	Security	Last	Change	Change %
DIS	THE WALT DISNEY CO.	114.70	+0.44	+0.39%

"A supercharged US consumer and the power of Disney drove earnings 25% ahead of expectations driven by Parks & Consumer Products," wrote a team of Morgan Stanley analysts led by Benjamin Swinburne. 

Revenue from Disney’s parks, experiences and products unit surged 308% to $4.3 billion, up from $1.06 billion during the same period last year.

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Operating income from the segment reached $356 million, compared with a loss of almost $1.88 billion last year.

Domestic theme parks booked a $2 million profit while international parks lost $210 million. Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida, was open for the entire quarter while the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, California, was open for 72 days. U.S. hotel occupancy was 50%. 

The company said operating income from its consumer products business jumped 290% year over year to $564 million. 

Total streaming subscribers rose to nearly 174 million, including 116 million Disney+ subscribers, 14.9 million ESPN+ subscribers and 42.8 million Hulu subscribers. Revenue from streaming was up 57% to $4.3 billion. 

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Disney reported a quarterly profit of $923 million, or 50 cents per share, compared with a $4.7 billion loss during the same period last year. Revenue was up 45% year over year to $17.02 billion. 

Disney shares were down 1.04% this year through Thursday, compared with the S&P 500’s 19% gain.