Certain statements in this call may constitute “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including statements regarding our business or financial prospects, trends or outlook; business plans; demand pipeline; financial or performance estimates or expectations (including estimated operating income, operating results, programming and production costs and cash content spend, capital expenditures, profitability and any guidance); organizational structure and leadership decisions; future subscriber levels; estimates of the financial impact of certain items, accounting treatment, events or circumstances; anticipated demand, timing, availability, pricing, utilization or nature of our offerings (including experiences and business openings, content within our products and services and content releases and distribution channel); business recovery; capital allocation, including dividend payments; impacts of COVID-19; consumer sentiment, behavior or demand; expected growth and drivers of performance or growth; cost reductions and source; productivity gains; available efficiencies; strategies and strategic priorities; value of our intellectual property, including franchises; direct-to-consumer expansion and changes to subscription offerings; and other statements that are not historical in nature. Any information that is not historical in nature included in this call is subject to change. These statements are made on the basis of management’s views and assumptions regarding future events and business performance as of the time the statements are made. Management does not undertake any obligation to update these statements.
Actual results may differ materially from those expressed or implied. Such differences may result from actions taken by the Company, including restructuring or strategic initiatives (including capital investments, asset acquisitions or dispositions, new or expanded business lines or cessation of certain operations), our execution of our business plans (including the content we create and IP we invest in, our pricing decisions, our cost structure and our management and other personnel decisions) or other business decisions, as well as from developments beyond the Company’s control, including:
- further deterioration in domestic and global economic conditions;
- deterioration in or pressures from competitive conditions, including competition to create or acquire content and competition for talent;
- consumer preferences and acceptance of our content, offerings, pricing model and price increases and the market for advertising sales on our DTC services and linear networks;
- health concerns and their impact on our businesses and productions;
- international, political or military developments;
- regulatory and legal developments;
- technological developments;
- labor markets and activities, including work stoppages;
- adverse weather conditions or natural disasters; and
- availability of content;
Such developments may further affect entertainment, travel and leisure businesses generally and may, among other things, affect (or further affect, as applicable):
- our operations, business plans or profitability;
- demand for our products and services;
- the performance of the Company’s content;
- our ability to create or obtain desirable content at or under the value we assign the content;
- the advertising market for programming;
- income tax expense; and
- performance of some or all Company businesses either directly or through their impact on those who distribute our products.
Additional factors are set forth in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended October 1, 2022, including under the captions “Risk Factors,” “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations,” and “Business,” quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, including under the captions “Risk Factors” and “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations,” and subsequent filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
The terms “Company,” “we,” and “our” are used above and in this call to refer collectively to the parent company and the subsidiaries through which our various businesses are actually conducted.
