The Walt Disney Company reports a 13% increase in Q2 revenue

The Walt Disney Company reported sales of $21,815 million for the three months that ended on April 1, 2023, up from $19,249 million for the same period in the previous year, a 13% rise.

According to the firm, their streaming losses dropped by $400 million in the second quarter compared to the first. The number of subscribers, however, has somewhat decreased for the business.

Disney Plus members decreased by 2% from Q1 to Q2, from 161.8 million to 157.8 million. The number of subscribers to Disney+Hotstar decreased by 8% to 52.9 million in the second quarter from 57.5 million in the first.

Due to decreasing per-user advertising revenue, Disney+ Hotstar's average monthly revenue per paying subscriber has dropped from $0.74 to $0.59.

Direct-to-consumer sales during the quarter rose 12% to $5.5 billion for the corporation, and operating loss shrank by $0.2 billion to $0.7 billion. According to the company's official statement, the reduction in operating loss was brought on by better performance at Disney+ and ESPN+, which were somewhat offset by reduced operating income at Hulu.

"The improvement at Disney+ was due to higher subscription revenue and a decrease in marketing costs, partially offset by higher programming and production costs and, to a lesser extent, increased technology costs," the statement continues. Increases in retail pricing and subscriber growth contributed to higher subscription revenue, which was only slightly offset by a negative foreign exchange impact. The service's increased content offering was the cause of the rise in programming and production costs.

"We were pleasantly surprised that the loss of subs was due to a substantial increase in pricing for the non-ad supported Disney Plus product," said the company's Chief Executive Officer, Bob Iger, during an earnings call. Although there was a loss, it was minimal, and this makes us think that pricing elasticity exists.

The plan we outlined last quarter is working, he remarked in response to the findings. Our new organizational structure gives our creative leaders more power and responsibility while also enabling a more effective, coordinated, and streamlined approach to our operations.

He also said that they would soon be providing a domestic one-app experience that incorporated Hulu content through Disney Plus.

The Walt Disney Company's Christine McCarthy, Senior Executive Vice-President and Chief Financial Officer, announced that the company will be removing specific material from its streaming platforms and that it presently anticipates taking an impairment charge of between $1.5 and $1.8 billion. "As we finish our investigation and delete the content, we will mostly recognize the charge that will not be shown in our segment results in the third quarter. In line with this strategic adjustment, we also expect to produce less material coming future.