BURBANK, Calif.—The Walt Disney Company reported mixed streaming subscriber numbers, with Hulu gaining 1.2 million subs and its core Disney+ operations losing 1.3 million subs in its Q1 2024 fiscal year, but its stock was up by 11.3% at 11:10 a.m. ET on Feb. 8 as the company dramatically beat expectations on earnings and its streaming losses continued to sharply decline.
The company stressed that it continues to expect to reach profitability at its combined streaming businesses in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2024 and its Q1 Entertainment DTC operating losses improved by nearly $300 million versus the prior quarter. It also noted that Hulu subscribers increased by 1.2 million from the prior quarter and Disney+ Core subscribers decreased sequentially by 1.3 million.
The company had previously issued guidance to investors to expect Disney+ sub losses, given a substantial price hike in the quarter as well as the end of the global summer promotion. Looking forward, it noted that they are expecting “Disney+ Core subscriber net additions of between 5.5 and 6 million and ongoing positive momentum in ARPU in the second quarter.”
Streaming DTC loses were $138 million in its fiscal Q1 2024 quarter ending Dec. 31, 2023, a substantial improvement from the nearly $1 billion losses ($984 million) a year earlier.
Disney+ ended the quarter with 46.1 million domestic subs in U.S. and Canada and 111.3 million globally (excluding its Indian Disney+ Hotstar operations.)
Hulu meanwhile ended the quarter with 45.1 million subs in U.S. and Canada and its virtual MVPD had 4.6 million, about the same as the previous quarter.
