By Lisa Richwine and Dawn Chmielewski
LOS ANGELES, May 6 (Reuters) – Walt Disney’s new Chief Executive Josh D’Amaro laid out his strategy for the entertainment company Wednesday, saying it would remain committed to creative excellence, strengthen its streaming business, capitalize on the power of live sports and continue to invest in its theme parks and cruise lines.
“Our focus remains consistent — improve the consumer experience, deepen engagement, and continue building a healthy and more durable growth business,” D’Amaro said during the company’s first-quarter earnings call, his first at the helm of Disney.
Investors sent Disney’s stock up nearly 8% in early trading.
D’Amaro succeeded Bob Iger as Disney CEO in mid-March and is steering the company through a consumer shift to streaming, the advent of artificial intelligence tools, and a challenging economy hit by higher oil prices and fewer international visitors to its theme parks.
In a 10-page letter to shareholders, D’Amaro said he expected adjusted EPS growth for fiscal 2026, which ends in early October, to reach about 12%. The company had earlier projected growth for that period in the “double digits.” He reiterated that Disney expects double-digit adjusted EPS growth for fiscal 2027.
The entertainment giant reported adjusted earnings-per-share of $1.57 and revenue of $25.2 billion for January through March. Analysts, on average, had expected adjusted EPS of $1.49 and revenue of $24.78 billion, according to LSEG.
The experiences division, which includes parks, cruise ships and consumer products, reported a 5% increase in operating income for the just-ended quarter. Guests spent more at U.S. theme parks, and cruise ships saw higher volume, compared with the same period a year earlier, Disney said.
Disney CFO Hugh Johnston said attendance at the company’s domestic theme parks was down, in part because of a drop in international visitors and competition from Universal Epic Universe in Orlando, Florida. He said he expects growth in the second half of the year.
Johnston acknowledged economic uncertainties, noting Disney is “not immune” from the impacts of rising gas prices — saying a further significant increase could lead to changes in consumer behavior.
At the entertainment unit, operating income rose by 6% to $1.34 billion. The boost came partly from higher subscription and advertising revenue from streaming services including Disney+. Movie box-office hits “Zootopia 2” and “Avatar: Fire and Ash,” released last year, continued to contribute during the quarter.
The sports division, home of ESPN, posted a 5% decrease in operating income to $652 million. Disney said the division incurred higher sports rights and production costs compared with a year earlier.
Johnston said investors should think of Disney’s television networks, including ESPN, as brands with studios that produce content, like “The Bear,” that can be distributed broadly and monetized. He said streaming now generates double the revenue of the company’s traditional television business, which is getting “smaller and smaller every quarter.”
The sports business is earlier in this streaming transition, but Johnston noted that ESPN is the world’s biggest sports media brand, and remains “an important contributor” to the company’s portfolio.
Asked about the impact of artificial intelligence, D’Amaro said the technology offers “meaningful long-term opportunities” for Disney, with the potential to make production more efficient, but that human creativity would remain at the center of everything the company does.
(Reporting by Lisa Richwine and Dawn Chmielewski in Los Angeles and Deborah Sophia in Bengaluru, Editing by Christopher Cushing and Nick Zieminski)
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