It's a Small World After All for Disney
The media giant delivers blowout results and unexpected theme park expansion news.
Walt Disney (NYSE: DIS) is delivering a "beat and raise" performance in more ways than one on Wednesday. The family entertainment behemoth announced better-than-expected financial results, boosting its guidance for all of fiscal 2025 in the process. Disney also announced that it will help "raise" a new theme park in Abu Dhabi, making it the seventh Disney-branded resort worldwide.
It was the sprinkling of levitational pixie dust that Disney stock needed. The shares had fallen 19% since its previous financial update, and the stock was underperforming the overall market for the fourth time in the past five years. Like any good Disney animated classic, sometimes you need to go through some challenges before reaching a happy ending as the credits roll. Can it stick the landing on this fairy tale finish? Let's take a closer look.
Expectations were low heading into Wednesday morning's financial update. Analysts were modeling $23.1 billion in revenue for the first three months of the calendar year, a modest 5% increase. They also figured that adjusted earnings would be flat with the $1.21 a share it posted in the prior year's fiscal second quarter.
