If you want to read The Walt Disney Company’s Fiscal Full Year and Q4 earnings report
The Walt Disney Company reported its earnings for its fourth quarter. Earnings per share were $1.11 per share compared to the $1.05 that was expected. Disney’s revenue came in at $22.5 billion compared to the $22.75 billion that was expected. Disney’s fiscal full-year revenue increased 3% for the year to $94.4 billion from $91.4 billion in the prior year.
Disney+ and Hulu have a combined 196 million subscribers, an increase of 12.4 million versus Q3 fiscal 2025. Disney+ gained 3.8 million subscribers, bringing its total to 132 million subscribers.
The earnings call had some intriguing insights from both Disney CEO Bob Iger and Disney CFO Hugh Johnston. Disney laid out some plans for Disney+ today that should create some serious discussion. Both Bob and Hugh didn’t discuss Experiences as much outside of the fact that it continues to soar and the Disney Cruise Line continues to dominate.
On the call, Iger used Lilo & Stitch as an example of how Disney’s flywheel works. The film was the highest-grossing Hollywood film at the global box office. The film also earned 14.3 million views during its first five days on Disney+ (the 2nd biggest Disney live-action premiere on the platform ever), and also saw Stitch consumer products cross $4 billion. Stitch also lifted the entire Consumer Products operating income by 14% compared to the prior-year quarter. Will Wall Street ever wake up to the fact that Disney is a cash generator across several different businesses?
Iger also touted Predator: Badlands had its biggest opening in the franchise’s nearly 40-year history. There has been a lot of conversation around Iger’s ambitious acquisition of 21st Century Fox, but man, he has to be happy that these 20th Century franchises like Predator, Alien, Planet of the Apes, Avatar, and The Simpsons are showing not just signs of life but real growth potential.
Iger also has high hopes for Zootopia 2 and Avatar: Fire and Ash. Disney is obviously expecting big hits there. With those titles ending the year it will then take Disney into a packed 2026, where Iger highlighted select titles like The Devil Wears Prada 2, The Mandalorian and Grogu, Toy Story 5, the live-action Moana, and Avengers: Doomsday. Iger seems very confident in the franchise aspect of his 2026 slate, and just remember, we almost had Frozen III in 2026. Iger in 2019 — what was thought of as his original retirement year — went all out with the film slate, including Star Wars, Avengers, Toy Story, and Frozen. History almost repeated itself in 2026.
Disney is also taking some wins in the television/streaming world. Season 34 of ABC’s Dancing with the Stars has made history. It’s the only fall show to increase its overall audience for six straight weeks following a season premiere — something that has never been achieved by any show since Nielsen began electronic measurement in 1991. That is an insane achievement and just goes to show there is some serious power in ABC but also in live content. Disney also noted that Alien: Earth was FX’s biggest premiere ever on Disney+ and Hulu, High Potential is the number one original broadcast series across all platforms, and Disney even has a Korean global hit in Tempest.
Iger even previewed Disney’s upcoming TV/streaming slate, which includes Paradise, The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives, Percy Jackson & The Olympians, American Idol, and Scrubs. The one downside of the Hulu integration is that we are seeing fewer Disney+ Originals. Only Percy Jackson is considered a Disney+ Original. I think Percy Jackson season two should perform quite well, especially with Disney+’s updated recommendation algorithm.
Disney, in its executive commentary, also noted that it recently acquired the highly coveted rights to the acclaimed Impossible Creatures book series. Disney anticipates it will become another exciting new storytelling franchise. Not every franchise gets an earnings callout like this. I would take note of this.
Iger then also gave an update on all the new features going on at Disney+. This is something Boardwalk Times has been tracking, and Disney+ has been making some serious strides. Iger acknowledged they are simplifying the user experience to showcase the full breadth of their content. Now that they are promoting Disney+ as a unified app, they can also consolidate their marketing efforts. Disney+ is also continuing to showcase live content. Iger teased additional updates coming soon, such as the new homepage update, greater personalization, improved recommendation algorithms, and Disney+ Perks being expanded globally.
And that was just scratching the surface… Disney has been hinting at it for a while now, but this call makes it clear they want to turn Disney+ into the portal for all things Disney.
Disney Experiences
Disney Experiences revenue increased 6% to $8.8 billion. Operating income for the segment was up 13% to $1.9 billion.
International Parks & Experiences operating income grew 25% to $375 million. Domestic Parks & Experiences operating income grew 9% to $920 million.
Disney Streaming
Domestic Disney+ ARPU (average revenue per user) was comparable to the prior sequential quarter, as higher advertising revenue was offset by the impact of subscriber mix shifts. International Disney+ ARPU increased from $7.67 to $8.00 due to favorable impacts from foreign exchange and subscriber mix shifts.
Pour one out. This is the last time we will be seeing subscriber numbers from Disney unless they change their mind.
Final Thoughts
Disney is still glowing about its ESPN DTC product. Despite consumer confusion and authentication problems, Disney says 80% of new subscribers to ESPN have signed up for the trio bundle, which includes Disney+ and Hulu. The new ESPN service also plays a factor in Disney’s ongoing negotiations with YouTube TV.
Disney CFO Hugh Johnston says they are ready to go as long as it takes with YouTube TV. Johnston said that they built a hedge into expectations if the discussions go on for a while. It’s clear YouTube TV wants ESPN, but also wants to pay less for other Disney channels. I don’t know how this one will end, but it’s not often you see Disney, a billion-dollar company, having to go toe to toe with Alphabet, a trillion-dollar company. The earnings call actually ended with Iger giving a message about YouTube TV. Iger says that the “deal we have proposed is equal to or better than what other large distributors have already agreed to.” He also reiterated that they aren’t trying to break any new ground with YouTube TV. Iger also proudly revealed that YouTube and Alphabet told them they deliver value more than any other content provider. It seems like Iger wants the deal done, and it has been reported that Google CEO Sundar Pichai is also involved in the negotiations now. So this case went up the ladder.
During the call, CFO Hugh Johnston was questioned on Disney’s appetite for M&A. The entertainment industry seems to be in deal mode, especially with Warner Bros. Discovery soliciting potential offers. “Bob and the team really built the IP portfolio that we have over the last decade, whether it was the Fox acquisition or Lucasfilm or Pixar. We actually feel like we have a great portfolio, and we don’t need to do anything,” said Johnston. “From that perspective, I think — we will let this play out. In terms of other competitors, we will see how the various moves play out, but we like the hand that we have right now. I wouldn’t expect us to participate in making any specific moves.”
I think the bigger question is, how would Disney feel if say, Comcast acquires Warner Bros. Discovery? That would create a theme park franchise juggernaut overnight. Maybe Disney would be concerned about Paramount or Netflix owning Warner Bros. Discovery as well. But as Johnston said, they are going to let it play out. Disney has its team assembled. I also wonder what people would even want Disney to acquire at this rate? I mean, I think Disney is better off making these minority investments with Epic Games and WEBTOON than just outright acquiring companies.
Despite Disney having no appetite for further M&A, Iger is open to having Disney+ bundled with competitive streaming platforms. Iger says they express a desire to bundle with other companies, and they have been in talks with other companies about doing new bundles. Let the speculation begin! Disney+ & Apple? Disney+ & Amazon? Disney+ & Netflix? Disney+ & Spotify? Disney+ & Paramount+? What could end up happening here?
Johnston then provided a brief update on domestic Disney Parks bookings. Q1 2026 bookings are up 3%. Disney feels good about where the demand is right now. Johnston also noted that they factored Universal Epic Universe into its forecasts and that it ended up being in line with their expectations. Johnston did note that it seems like Epic Universe is impacting the rest of the competition in Florida more than it is Walt Disney World.
Johnston also discussed Disney Cruise Line, which just continues to dominate. An analyst wanted to know about specific margins for the Cruise Line, and Johnston wouldn’t divulge. He did call it “a very attractive business.” He noted that they are able to price at a good level and that the “guest satisfaction scores are higher than basically anything else in the company. The margins in that business, as you would imagine quite attractive.” Johnston says despite the rapid expansion of Disney Cruise Line, they are still seeing strong demand. Despite the added capacity, Disney’s utilization rates are in line with what they’ve seen in the past.
The biggest blockbuster of this call was Bob Iger discussing “Disney+ As A Portal,” hence the title of this article.
Although it was hinted at in the past that Disney had an ambition to evolve Disney+ beyond a streaming service, we’ve never been given any actual ideas that go beyond the service level of just saying “everything.” Iger discussed the concept of “Disney+ As A Portal” and how utilizing AI could make it happen. Iger believes Disney+ has opportunities in commerce but also as an engagement engine for Disney Experiences.
Iger also said that he could see gaming as a potential aspect of Disney+. He noted that they invested in Epic Games and that a large part will be on their platform, but Iger didn’t rule out that there is an obvious opportunity to integrate game-like features into Disney+. It is notable that one of Disney’s key rivals in Netflix has gone into gaming and is continuing to invest in that space. Disney could have a strategic advantage by partnering with Epic Games.
Iger also believes that Disney+ could end up being a place where users will be able to generate their own short-form content with AI. Iger confirmed they have had interesting conversations with some of the AI companies. He also stressed that they want to protect the value of their IP and creative engines. Iger hopes they are able to reach a deal with one of these companies.
“AI will give us the ability to do, is to provide users of Disney+ with a much more engaged experience, including the ability for them to create user-generated content, and to consume user-generated content, mostly short form from others.” — Disney CEO Bob Iger
Iger also noted that beyond user-generated content that AI could be used for efficiency, collection of data, and new features and tools on the streaming services. Disney has been hiring a lot of AI-related jobs as of late across all divisions. So this news isn’t too surprising; almost every major company is hiring AI-related positions.
The biggest takeaway is that this “Disney+ As A Portal” concept has been floated many times before, but it seems to now have some serious momentum behind it. Disney+ could soon be adding commerce, gaming, AI tools, and user-generated content to its regular film, TV, and sports lineup.
If executed correctly and there may need to be a revision on the current AI approach, but the “Disney+ As A Portal” concept could be the manifestation of the Disney flywheel.
Lightning Round
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Zach Perilstein is the Editor-in-Chief of the Boardwalk Times
