By Sam Boughedda
Walt Disney (NYSE:DIS) shares have tumbled in after-hours trading Tuesday following the company's fiscal fourth-quarter earnings release, which saw it miss analyst consensus expectations.
The media and entertainment giant reported earnings of $0.30 per share, $0.29 worse than the analyst estimate of $0.59, with revenue for the quarter coming in at $20.15 billion versus the consensus estimate of $21.38B. Revenues for the quarter and year grew 9% and 23%, respectively.
Disney shares are down almost 7% at the time of writing. They closed the regular session at $99.95 after a 0.48% fall.
"2022 was a strong year for Disney, with some of our best storytelling yet, record results at our Parks, Experiences and Products segment, and outstanding subscriber growth at our direct-to-consumer services, which added nearly 57 million subscriptions this year for a total of more than 235 million," said Bob Chapek, Chief Executive Officer, Walt Disney. "Our fourth quarter saw strong subscription growth with the addition of 14.6 million total subscriptions, including 12.1 million Disney+ subscribers."
The company said the growth of Disney+ since its launch is a result of its strategic decision to invest heavily in creating content and rolling out the service internationally. As a result, Disney expects its DTC operating losses to narrow going forward and believes Disney+ will still achieve profitability in fiscal 2024, assuming there isn't a meaningful shift in the economic climate.