Disney Beats Expectations With $710 Million Loss

Walt Disney Co. beat Wall Street expectations on earnings and revenue in the fiscal fourth quarter.The Burbank entertainment and media giant reported on Thursday a net loss of $710 million (-39 cents a share) for the quarter ending Oct. 3, compared to net income of $777 million (43 cents) in the same period a year earlier. Revenue decreased by 23 percent to $14.7 billion.On an adjusted basis, the company had earnings of -20 cents a share, compared to $1.07 in the same quarter last year.Analysts on average expected adjusted earnings of -71 cents on revenue of $14.2 billion, according to Thomson Financial Network.Out of the four business units at Disney, the one hurt most during the quarter was Parks, Experiences and Products where revenue decreased 61 percent to $2.5 billion as the company’s theme parks in California remained closed during the quarter due to the coronavirus outbreak. Its Shanghai and Hong Kong theme parks reopened in May and June respectively, although the latter closed again in July but did reopen again at the beginning and the end of the quarter.“All of our reopened parks and resorts operated at significantly reduced capacities during the current quarter,” the company said in a statement.Also hard hit by the coronavirus pandemic was studio entertainment, which experienced a 52 percent decrease in revenue to $1.6 billion. With the health crisis keeping movie theaters closed around the globe, Disney did not release any films during the quarter, compared with “The Lion King” and “Toy Story 4” still in theaters in the same quarter of 2019.Two divisions, Media Networks and Direct-to-Consumer & International, showed increases in revenue. The former went up by 11 percent to $7.2 billion, while the latter increased by 41 percent to $4.9 billion.Shares of Disney (DIS) closed down $2.30, or about 1.7 percent, to $135.52 on the New York Stock Exchange, on a day when the major markets also closed down.