News Disney’s Q1 FY25 Earnings Results Webcast

[MisterPenguin]

Q: WRT outlook...
in experiences, are bookings still positive
in DTC, 1st Q was good, why are the next few quarters not that spectacular?

A: Hugh: DTC still evolving, still expect growth, could still do much better than guidance, but we're being cautious.

Hugh on bookings: guidance remains the same; up for this Summer, outlook is good

 

[Doberge]

Complimenting Jimmy Pitaro's "cost control" may or may not be a throwaway comment.

 

[MisterPenguin]

Q: Sports... cost is going up but guidance is still good. Will you getter better deals with other sports [to offset what we think is spending too much on NBA]

Whats the guidance for D+ growth coming up?

A: Hugh: we approach ESPN cost globally. [presumption here that overspending on some sports are worth it to make ESPN overall profitable]

Hugh: We expect growth (not saying by how much)

Bob: DTC is going great. Note last quarter we raised price but didn't lose subs. And DTC is getting better.

 

[lentesta]

Where is that? I searched the docs we have so for a mention of Universal and don't see anything about their response to EU.

They're not saying it in public. They're saying it to analysts. The things you overhear while waiting in line for halal in the Financial District, you know?

 

[freediverdude]

Convenient excuse in the hurricanes, wonder if the market believes that.

 

[MisterPenguin]

Last Q: ESPN... are you just trying to keep steady or make growth.

Bob: Linear networks still produce a profit. So we're not looking to make changes with Linear TV at this time.

WRT ESPN... young consumers are moving to live and mobile. And that's where ESPN will be going.

 

[TheMaxRebo]

Iger on Lightning Lane Premier Pass: "Lightning Lane Premier Pass is performing in line with expectations, but they are starting its roll out slowly and will expand it moving forward."

Wonder what the ultimate plan is here, how much they wan to expand it, impact to LLMP, etc

 

[lentesta]

Iger on Lightning Lane Premier Pass: "Lightning Lane Premier Pass is performing in line with expectations, but they are starting its roll out slowly and will expand it moving forward."

Wonder what the ultimate plan is here, how much they wan to expand it, impact to LLMP, etc

It's already available to all guests and for all LL attractions. What does "starting its roll out slowly" even mean? ISTG.

One of two things:

1) Iger didn't remember this

2) Multi-park Premier Pass is coming

IIRC, multi-park is somewhere in the code base. I'd have to go back and check.

 

[TheMaxRebo]

It's already available to all guests and for all LL attractions. What does "starting its roll out slowly" even mean? ISTG.

One of two things:

1) Iger didn't remember this

2) Multi-park Premier Pass is coming

IIRC, multi-park is somewhere in the code base. I'd have to go back and check.

Could it just be related to how many they sell each day? It did sell out on busy days and even last Friday so maybe he just means raising the max # they will sell


And then over time keep raising that and maybe adjusting pricing to try and sell more and more each day?

 

[Jrb1979]

Could it just be related to how many they sell each day? It did sell out on busy days and even last Friday so maybe he just means raising the max # they will sell


And then over time keep raising that and maybe adjusting pricing to try and sell more and more each day?

That or they are working towards removing LLMP

 

[MisterPenguin]

Domestic Experience revenue for a quarter is, on average, at least $6B.

Divide that by 90 days for a quarter, that's $67M per day.

So shutting down WDW for a day and a half and cancelling a cruise easily creates a loss of over $100M in expected revenue.

And yet, Domestic Experience revenue was up 2% from last year's equivalent quarter.

It was increased expenses that made the quarter less profitable than the previous year, and the financials include fleet expansion and inflation as some of the causes of that.

So, the hurricane was absolutely significant to mention.

Disney financials mention one-time effects all the time: whether is one or two days difference in the quarter, or one movie bombing or hitting a billion in Box Office, or a playoff game that happened at this time last year, but not in this quarter this year. As part of their 'guidance' all the factors get mentioned. It is exasperating that they don't assign specific numbers to each of those factors.

And so, they didn't blame the hurricane solely on a reduced profit for domestic experience.

It's a shame, tho, that Disney only made $3.1B profit on domestic experience in one quarter instead of $3.2B.

 

[MisterPenguin]

Wonder what the ultimate plan is here, how much they wan to expand it, impact to LLMP, etc

As they've done in the past, they're gradually increasing pricing to find the tipping point that guests won't pay. They're squeezing 'yield' out of it.

And while they're experimenting with the dials, they're not making a big push advertising it.

 

[MisterPenguin]

Disney's streaming:

This quarter last year: -$138M

This quarter this year: +$293M


Ed note: I updated these numbers because I was looking in the wrong place. In general, not too different from what I first posted.

 

[Jrb1979]

As they've done in the past, they're gradually increasing pricing to find the tipping point that guests won't pay. They're squeezing 'yield' out of it.

And while they're experimenting with the dials, they're not making a big push advertising it.

That's exactly why you're seeing attendance going down. Pushing guests to the tipping point is how many view it as nickel and diming

 

[MisterPenguin]

Disney's Segment Net Profits (profit centers: Movies, Parks, Sports, Cruises, etc...)

This quarter last year: $3.9B

This quarter this year: $5.1B

+31%

 

[wdwmagic]

Multi-park Premier Pass is coming

This is the way

 

[Jrb1979]

Disney's Segment Net Profits (profit centers: Movies, Parks, Sports, Cruises, etc...)

This quarter last year: $3.9B

This quarter this year: $5.1B

+31%

Great. Especially for shareholders. Pushing guests to their tipping point on everything isn't sustainable

 

[MisterPenguin]

That's exactly why you're seeing attendance going down. Pushing guests to the tipping point is how many view it as nickel and diming

Yeah, but Disney's able to squeeze more money from fewer guests. So, it's not as dangerous to their bottom line as it might be for other companies.

And having less crowds increases GSAT, making people OK with paying more.

There is a tipping point. But as much as Disney's been trying to find it for years now, it hasn't happened yet, because the guests that still go -- fewer tho they may be -- are willing to pay more.

 

[Dranth]

Great. Especially for shareholders. Pushing guests to their tipping point on everything isn't sustainable

It is not sustainable forever but where is that breaking point? They obviously haven't hit it yet and while I personally think they are walking a dangerous line right now, people have been predicting a collapse for over a decade at least and it still hasn't happened.

 

[ctrlaltdel]

Disney's streaming:

This quarter last year: -$224M

This quarter this year: +$312M

Have to say streaming is pretty safe. Their subscriber losses were overseas on lower priced plans. They can't go too crazy with price hikes, but they have found a nice level where streaming is safely profitable.

Don't know if I see the growth to make up the erosion of cable for the bottom line, but that erosion is happening no matter what Disney does. ESPN DTC is the most important thing for the future of the company atm.