Disney’s Q4 results disappoint: ‘we expect a strong bounce back in Q1’

Shares of the Walt Disney Company (NYSE: DIS) fell 5.0% in after-hours trading on weak financial results for its fiscal fourth quarter.  

Fourth-quarter financial performance

Disney reported $159 million in net income that translates to 9 cents a share versus the year-ago figure of 39 cents of per-share loss. On an adjusted basis, it earned 37 cents per share on $18.53 billion in revenue that represents an annualised growth of 26%.

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According to FactSet, experts had forecast 52 cents of EPS on $18.8 billion in revenue. The earnings report comes a month after Jim Cramer said Disney will become a standard name for big institutions once the global economy reopens.

Disney+ subscribers and revenue from individual businesses

Disney+ added 2.1 million subscribers in Q4 for a total of 118.1 million versus 125.3 million expected.

The streaming segment, television networks, and film business brought in $4.56 billion, $6.7 billion, and $2.05 billion in revenue. The media unit at large generated $13.08 billion in revenue while another $5.45 billion came from parks, experiences, and products – all below expectations.

Rosenblatt’s Zgutowicz expects a strong holiday quarter

On CNBC’s “Closing Bell”, Rosenblatt Securities’ Mark Zgutowicz said the holiday quarter could be a much stronger one for Disney.

For the first time this year, Disney will have a strong content slate in the December quarter. The $2.0 for a one-month trial promo will also boost. So, we expect a really strong bounce back in their fiscal first quarter.

Zgutowicz also expects Hotstar India to uplift Q1 results. It was down a bit in the recent quarter, which could be a one-time thing, as per the Rosenblatt analyst who rates Disney at “buy” with a price target of $220 that represents a close to 30% upside from here.