Disney+ Numbers
Disney just held their Q2 FY21 earnings call yesterday. As the gears keep on turning, as the company has hit a current 103.6 million subscribers for their direct-to-consumer business. The House of Mouse was just shy of 7 million subscribers; as they were hopeful for their targeted goal of 110 million for their Q2 goal. Pricing for the streaming service increased back in March from $6.99 to $7.99/month and $69.99 to $79.99/annually.
Movie theaters are slowly returning back towards some scale of normalcy, though. That means people were inside and needed entertainment. So they turned to Disney+, which led to a trickle of subscriber growth.
What’s Next For Disney+?
Direct-to-consumer business has been doing solid for Disney for bringing in a $4 billion revenue stream. Which means a 59% increase for their year to date progress. Disney Chairman & CEO, Bob Chapek and Disney’s Chief Financial Officer, Christine McCarthy mentioned the goal for sub growth is 230 to 260 million by end of 2024.
The company told Wall Street two years ago, it expected for 60 million-90 million Disney Plus customers by that time.
“We’re pleased to see more encouraging signs of recovery across our businesses, and we remain focused on ramping up our operations while also fueling long-term growth for the Company,” said Chapek.
“This is clearly reflected in the reopening of our theme parks and resorts, increased production at our studios, the continued success of our streaming services, and the expansion of our unrivaled portfolio of multiyear sports rights deals for ESPN and ESPN+.”
Bob Chapek, Chairman and CEO of The Walt Disney Company.
Disney has some heavy hitters coming up on the service for Q3 2021. Movies and shows like Cruella, Black Widow, Luca, and Loki. Disney+ is the home for Disney, Star Wars, Marvel, Pixar, National Geographic.
Disney Parks Lose Lots Of Money In 2020, But Poised For Gains
The results from Disney’s earnings call for their theme parks and resorts domestic and internationally suffered heavy losses. A loss of $406 million for Q2 FY21, with a revenue of $3.1+ billion that they shared. For the domestic parks lost $587 million with a revenue of $1.7+ billion from January to April 3rd, 2021. Overseas for the international parks that lost $380 million with a revenue of $262 million and a net income of $561 million for the loss for Disney Parks, Experiences and Products divison.
Quarter two of for fiscal 2021 for Disneyland Resort, Disneyland Paris and Disney Cruise Line were all closed. Disneyland Paris is the last remaining Disney Park to reopen up as Bob Chapek, CEO of Disney said “soon” for Paris (even posted on the park’s site as well). Disneyland didn’t reflect upon the earnings call and would be ideal likely for quarter three for Disney. Walt Disney World and Shanghai Disney Resort were all open for the second quarter.
Looking Ahead And What Was Lost Due to COVID-19
The ramifications of COVID-19 hit the company hard as they estimated a decrease in operating income of approximately $1.2 billion.
Here’s more from what Chapek had to say from the earnings call:
“We are focused on the ongoing recovery of our parks business and the resumption of Disney Cruise Line,” CEO Bob Chapek said.
“There have been some encouraging developments in recent months, particularly with the ongoing rollout of the vaccine and the gradual lifting of government mandated restrictions. And through this time, we’ve taken advantage of the opportunity to make improvements to our operating procedures to enhance the guest experience through the use of technology innovations, new ticketing strategies, and other offerings.”
“We are especially excited that after being closed for 412 days, we welcomed our first guests back to Disneyland two weeks ago, and the response has been overwhelmingly positive. Bob [Iger] and I stood on Main Street USA on opening day, and it was so wonderful to see the joy on our cast and guests faces and feel the excitement in the air.”
Bob Chapek, Chairman and CEO of The Walt Disney Company
More On The Parks
Disney’s Chief Financial Officer, Christine McCarthy also chimed in about the Disney Parks:
“Our parks and resorts that were opened during the quarter operated at significantly reduced capacities, yet all achieved the objective of a net positive contribution, meaning that revenue exceeded the variable costs associated with opening,” CFO Christine McCarthy said. “At Walt Disney World, attendance trends continued to steadily improve throughout the second quarter, and guest spending per capita, again, grew by double digit versus the prior year. The Disneyland Resort reopened on April 30, and as Bob mentioned earlier, we are very encouraged by the initial guests response. Bookings for park reservations at both of our domestic parks are strong, demonstrating the strength of our brands as well as growing travel optimism as case counts decline, vaccine distribution ramps up and government restrictions loosen.”
Christine McCarthy, Disney Chief Financial Officer
Disney’s plans were upset by the pandemic. Lots of projects have been shuffled around, including Walt Disney World’s 50th anniversary on October 1st, 2021 that will be an 18-month long celebration. Projects like TRON: Lightcycle Run at Disney’s Magic Kingdom, and Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind at EPCOT are hinting for a 2022 opening date.
New Annual Pass?
It was a big question of how Disney would replace the Annual Pass progam. During the Q&A section of today’s call, Bob Chapek had an answer.
Bob Chapek addressed the to-be-announced new program (currently called Disneyland Legacy) that will be replacing the annual passholder program. The previous program was dropped and cancelled earlier this year to start over fresh.
Chapek didn’t use the term “annual passholder” for the new program and here’s what he had to say:
Many Disney Parks fans are waiting details about how the new program works. Chapek was vague and Disney hasn’t given out new details about it. Will it be more expensive? Likely.
Disneyland President, Ken Potrock said the new program will launch before the end of this year to be “reimagined”.
Walt Disney World About To Go Maskless
The Walt Disney Company shared some interesting news for what’s ahead this summer. The CDC shared yesterday that those who are fully vaccinated can be maskless outdoors. They can also be within non-crowded locations such as a restaurants. Bob Chapek said in the call that it was “very big news” for both Disneyland and Walt Disney World Resorts.
For Florida, Chapek said “can be quite daunting” in the summer with a mask and the changes “make for an even more pleasant experience”. Demand for theme park tickets and reservations are high since pre-COVID from 2019 for growth in attendance and bookings. Walt Disney World has been open up for a year since July last year and Disneyland just recent reopened up on April 30th after being a year closed down due to COVID-19.
Walt Disney World has not made any changes towards their mandatory face covering policy; but did release a statement about it:
This evening as Chapek spoke with CNBC after the earnings call and elobrated more on the masks for Florida:
“There’s going to be a lot more comfortable people this summer in Orlando. You can only imagine what it would be like in 95 degrees and 95% humidity wearing a mask.”
“Right now, as we speak, we are already increasing capacity to our parks based on the guidance we have gotten. I think, in relatively short order, you’re going to see our attendance go up significantly”
Bob Chapek, Chairman and CEO of The Walt Disney Company
No estimated timeline was given out.
Furloughed Workers Coming Back
Over 10,000 furloughed cast members are being called back to work. Chapek said on the call that 80% have returned. . So far there have been “no problems whatsoever” since the attendance numbers for guests who want to visit are the same towards pre-pandemic numbers.
Disney revenue hit $7 billion in fiscal 2020, and came with a cost of 32,000 layoffs for the Disney Parks division. Chapek framed the closures as an opportunity for the company to “completely reexamine how we priced and programmed our tickets.”
Disneyland isn’t quite up to par for those numbers yet from their reopening. Chapek did acknowledge those numbers are increasing and it’s “yet to be announced” for increasing capacity. As Orange County is at 35% capacity for theme parks up from 25% and indoor dining up to 50% and can be set for next week if it holds up for the “Yellow tier” level or the less restrictive tier.
So, what do you think of this Disney news? Are you excited to see what’s in store for all things Disney? What park do you look forward to going to? Let us know in the comments below!
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Source: Disney
