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Disney+ lost 700,000 subscribers over the final three months of 2024, which is the Walt Disney Company’s first quarter of fiscal year 2025. Not counting Disney+ Hotstar, the cheap Disney+ in India, Disney+ now has 124.6 million subs.
In the prior quarter, Disney’s final one of its fiscal year 2024, Disney+ added 4.4 million subscribers. At the time, the company braced us for a “modest decline” in subs as certain promotions were set to expire during the October-December quarter; we’re pretty much right on track. Disney is expecting a similar decline from January to March.
Hulu added 1.6 million subscribers in Disney’s Q1 2025; it now has 53.6 million subs. ESPN+ lost 700,000 subs; the company’s combined direct-to-consumer business was profitable for the third straight quarter.
Wall Street expected Disney would report earnings per share (EPS) of $1.43 on $24.55 billion in revenue, per a consensus estimate compiled by Yahoo Finance. Disney posted adjusted EPS of $1.76 on $24.7 billion in revenue.
“Moana 2” was a huge part of it; Disney CEO Bob Iger was all, “Can I Get a Chee Hoo?”
“Our results this quarter demonstrate Disney’s creative and financial strength as we advanced the strategic initiatives set in motion over the past two years,” Iger said in a prepared statement. “In fiscal Q1 we saw outstanding box office performance from our studios, which had the top three movies of 2024; we further improved the profitability of our Entertainment DTC streaming businesses; we took an important step to advance ESPN’s digital strategy by adding an ESPN tile on Disney+; and our Experiences segment demonstrated its enduring appeal as we continue investing strategically across the globe. Overall, this quarter proved to be a strong start to the fiscal year, and we remain confident in our strategy for continued growth.”
Disney is #1 among all media companies in terms of total TV usage, according to Nielsen — and only YouTube is particularly close. The biggest and most consistent performers across Disney+ and Hulu include “Bluey,” “Grey’s Anatomy,” and Fox’s “Animation Domination” shows. Specific to the reported quarter, ABC and ESPN split the spoils from “Monday Night Football.” Holiday classics like “Home Alone” and “Hocus Pocus” filled the quarter, and November’s streaming premiere of “Deadpool & Wolverine” was a hit.
At the box office, “Moana 2” cleared $1 billion. Even considering inflation, the sequel to 2016’s “Moana” made hundreds of millions of dollars more than its predecessor. (The original “Moana” was the most-streamed movie of 2024, per Nielsen.) “Moana 2” was originally intended to be a Disney+ series, so good call to whoever upgraded that plan.
“Mufasa: The Lion King” didn’t have quite the same momentum. The prequel story, released in theaters five days before Christmas, made $650 million worldwide — not “Moana 2” money, but not bad for another trip to that IP well. The OG “Lion King” animated film in 1994 and its CG remake in 2019 both made far more.
Searchlight’s “A Complete Unknown” starring Timothée Chalamet as Bob Dylan was released theatrically on Christmas Day. Its success will be measured more in Oscars (March 2 on ABC and Hulu!) than in dollars.
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