Key Takeaways
- Disney is scheduled to report first-quarter earnings before the bell Wednesday, with analysts expecting revenue and profit to rise from last year.
- Analysts are mostly bullish on the entertainment conglomerate’s stock.
- The profitability of Disney’s streaming and experiences business have been a focus of recent analysts’ comments.
The Walt Disney Co. (DIS) is set to report fiscal 2025 first-quarter results Wednesday morning, with analysts expecting rising revenue and net income as the profitability of the entertainment giant’s streaming business remains a focus.
Analysts are mostly bullish on Disney’s stock, with the analysts tracked by Visible Alpha split between seven “buy” and four “hold” ratings. They have an average price target of $127.27, a premium of nearly 13% from its closing price Friday.
Revenue is expected to rise nearly 5% year-over-year to $24.63 billion, with profit expected to jump roughly 25% to $2.38 billion, or $1.31 per share.
Streaming, Experiences in Focus
Disney’s streaming business—consisting of Hulu, Disney+, and ESPN+—turned profitable earlier than expected in the third quarter and profits grew in Q4. Analysts from Citi and UBS said recently that they expect streaming profitability to improve in Q1 and beyond.
In early January, Disney, Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD), and FOX (FOX) abandoned their yet-to-be-launched streaming service Venu Sports. The announcement came days after Disney and FuboTV (FUBO) said they would resolve one of the legal challenges against Venu Sports by merging streaming competitor Fubo—which had sued to block the service’s launch—with Disney’s Hulu + Live TV offering.Â
UBS analysts also wrote that they expect Disney’s “Experiences” segment profitability to take a hit in the quarter because of costs associated with its new cruise ships, and impact on park attendance from the hurricanes that hit the South late last year.
Disney shares are up about 17% over the last 12 months.