Disney stock price takes off today with a big boost from R-rated ‘Deadpool & Wolverine’ and animated ‘Inside Out 2’

Shares in the Walt Disney Company (NYSE: DIS) are rising this morning after the company reported its Q4 2024 earnings before the bell. As of the time of this writing, DIS shares are up over 6.5% in premarket trading to $109.41. Disney reported Q4 financial results that beat analyst expectations, helped largely by its entertainment section, which includes Disney Plus and summer blockbuster films such as Deadpool & Wolverine and Inside Out 2.

Here’s what to know about Disney’s Q4 2024.

Disney beats on revenue and earnings per share

Disney revealed two sets of figures in its earnings report today: its Q4 2024 results and its results for the full financial year 2024. When it came to revenue and earnings per share, both the quarter and the full fiscal year saw healthy growth.

For Q4 2024, Disney posted $22.57 billion in revenue. That was up 6% from the same quarter a year earlier. And as CNBC notes, it slightly beat analyst expectations of $22.45 billion. The company’s Q4 diluted earnings per share (EPS) was $1.14, beating analyst estimates of $1.10. The company’s EPS growth from the same quarter a year earlier was a staggering 39%

For Disney’s full fiscal 2024 results, the company posted $91.3 billion in revenue, a growth of 3% from fiscal 2023, and diluted earnings per share of $4.97, up 32% from fiscal 2023.

Blockbusters and streaming helped propel Disney’s Q3

Disney had two big wins in its entertainment segment, which really helped propel overall revenues. Entertainment segment operating income increased to $1.1 billion, up from $800 million during the year-ago quarter.

This operating income increase was helped by two massive hits in theaters: Deadpool & Wolverine and Inside Out 2.

Deadpool & Wolverine, starring Ryan Reynolds and Huge Jackman, became the highest-grossing R-rated film of all time, and Pixar’s Inside Out 2 became the highest-grossing animated film of all time. The company said both films helped drive $316 million in operating income in Q4.

Disney also saw healthy subscriber growth for its streaming platforms. Disney said it ended Q4 with 174 million Disney+ Core and Hulu subscriptions, as well as “more than” 120 million Disney+ Core paid subscribers. This represented an increase of 4.4 million subscribers over the previous quarter.

“This is a business that was losing more than $4 billion just two years ago, in fiscal 2022,” Disney said in an executive summary announcing its financials. “The progress we have made is impressive, and we continue working to improve profitability and margins.”

ESPN sits on the sidelines

While Disney’s films and streaming helped propel the company in Q4, its ESPN sports offerings fell pretty flat. For Q4, Disney said, global ESPN revenue was $3.85 billion, up just 1% from a year earlier. ESPN’s profits were also down 6% to $896 million.

Disney attributed the disappointing domestic ESPN numbers primarily to higher production and programming costs associated with college football rights and lower affiliate revenue due to lower subscriber numbers.

Looking ahead

The company also provided a pretty rosy outlook not just for fiscal 2025, but fiscal 2026 and 2027 as well.

For fiscal 2025, Dsiney said it expects high-single-digit adjusted EPS growth compared to 2024. When it comes to its Entertainment division, it said it expects its operating income growth to be in the double digits in terms of percentage. It expects its Sports segment to see 13% growth, but when factoring in India sports operations, it expects to see operating income decrease by 10%.

Finally, Disney expects its Experiences segment, which includes its theme parks, to see growth of 6% to 8%.

The company also expects to see double-digit adjusted EPS growth for fiscal years 2026 and 2027.