Disney’s Streaming Business Finally Finds Its Rhythm

As Bob Iger nears the halfway point of his four-year contract heading The Walt Disney Company (DIS), the media mogul is well on his way to leaving behind a healthy company when he passes the CEO baton to a successor in 2026. Bolstered by box office hits and momentum across its streaming division, Disney today (Nov. 14) reported a 74 percent bump in net income to $460 million for the July to September quarter. “As I reflect on the two years since I returned to the company, I’m incredibly proud of how much progress we’ve made,” said Iger on an earnings call, adding that he believes the company “can continue to drive healthy growth beyond this year.”

Iger praised Disney’s streaming businesses (Disney+, Hulu and ESPN+), which turned a profit for the second quarter in a row. The division’s profitability soared to $321 million, in stark contrast to the $387 million in losses it faced during the same period last year and up from the $47 million in profit it saw last quarter.

The company ended the quarter with 4 percent more Disney+ Core subscribers and 5 percent more Hulu subscribers; the platforms now have 112.7 million and 52 million users, respectively. In the U.S., around 60 percent of new subscribers are opting for the more affordable ad-supported Disney+ tier, according to Iger, who told analysts that the tier accounts for 37 percent of total subscribers in the country and 30 percent globally. This information isn’t usually broken out by Disney and appears to have been an accidental slip from the CEO, who later commented: “I don’t know if I was supposed to disclose those AVOD [Advertising-based Video on Demand] numbers.”

Disney’s streaming businesses helped boost revenue in its entertainment division this quarter, which rose by 14 percent year-over-year to $10.8 billion. The company reported a total of $22.6 billion in revenue for the quarter, representing a 6 percent increase that was in line with Wall Street’s expectations. Nearly $4 billion came from its sports sector, which was relatively flat year-over-year, while Disney’s experiences segment saw revenue rise by 1 percent to $8.2 billion. Investors received the results well, as evidenced by a more than 7 percent rise in the company’s shares today.

SEE ALSO: Who Will Take Bob Iger’s Throne in 2026?

Also contributing to Disney’s success this quarter were box office hits like Inside Out 2 and Deadpool & Wolverine, which the company said played a large role in the $316 million in operating income reported by its studio business. Due to consumer touch points like streaming, parks and resorts, and cruise ships, a successful Disney film today drives “more value than it ever has in the past,” said Iger, adding that Disney will finish out the year with additional expected hits like Moana 2 and Mufasa: The Lion King. “This multiplier effect means that the system economics of our movie business has never been stronger.”

Iger, who previously headed Disney between 2005 and 2020, came out of retirement for a second CEO stint in 2022 and will be replaced with a yet-to-be-named candidate in two years’ time. While Disney might not yet be set on a CEO replacement, the company has some optimistic growth predictions for the next years. Besides expecting an additional $875 million in profits from its streaming division in the next fiscal year, Disney is forecasting double-digit adjusted earnings per share growth for fiscal 2026 and 2027.

One thing not included in the company’s future plans is more media asset acquisitions. While media executives like Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD)’s David Zaslav have already expressed hope that the incoming Trump administration will be more receptive to media consolidations, Iger told analysts today that the company is satisfied with the content it received after acquiring 20th Century Fox assets in 2017. “We, in many respects, have already consolidated,” he said. “We don’t really need more assets right now.”