Disney Reported a “Financial Slowdown” — But They Aren’t Worried About Getting Your Money

Disney held its third-quarter earnings call for 2024 on August 7th, and we learned just how the company is doing in various aspects of the business.

During the call, Disney revealed that park operating income was actually down for the quarter, attributing it to higher costs driven by inflation among other factors. Even still, Disney doesn’t seem to be too worried about this “financial slowdown.”

Despite an overall 2% increase in revenue in the same quarter this past year, Disney’s operating income decreased in the parks by 3% over the same time period. Revenue growth was impacted by lower consumer demand near the end of the third quarter more than what the company expected, but that doesn’t seem to be a problem for Disney.

We know that Disney is investing a ton of money into new cruise ships, hotels, and theme park lands — all things that will likely start to bring in huge revenue by 2025. Even though Disney isn’t pulling in the big bucks right now when it comes to the Experiences department, they’re probably not too worried because they’re placing big bets on new cruises and experiences.

Plus, we know that Disney is also placing big bets somewhere else — movies.

During Disney’s most recent earnings call on August 7th, CFO Hugh Johnston shared that the company’s success at the box office is “really what’s driving things more than anything else,” especially when it comes to licensing and streaming. Disney’s whole strategy recently has been producing great Intellectual Property (IP) as it pertains to the box office, streaming, and consumer products.

How a movie does at the box office can directly impact how it will perform once it hits streaming platforms. Folks will often prepare for the new film by streaming older related content, and those who didn’t make it to the theaters but have still seen all the hype surrounding a movie’s success will want to stream it for the very first time.

For example, Disney said, “in the lead-up to and following the theatrical release of Inside Out 2, millions of viewers turned to Disney+ to watch the original Inside Out film from 2015, driving over 1.3 million Disney+ sign-ups and generating over 100 million views of the original film globally since the first Inside Out 2 teaser trailer dropped.”

That, combined with the exciting new park and cruise offerings Disney is rolling out over the next few years, is a pretty good indicator that we’re in for some exciting experiences soon — and the House of Mouse is banking on it.

Disney seems pretty confident that its “multi-platform approach” to streaming and linear (box office) content allows it to “seamlessly deliver high-quality entertainment to consumers across a range of demographics.” As for how this strategy will continue to play out at the box office and beyond, we’ll have to wait and see!

No matter what, though, you can be sure we’ll be on the lookout for the latest Disney news that could have an impact on your next trip. Don’t forget to stay tuned to AllEars for more!