“Promise you’re not going to be mad…” -Bob Iger starting off the Disney’s earnings call

Disney (-8%) is absolutely getting destroyed after getting sucker-punched by… cable TV. Unfortunately Mickey Mouse is thriving everywhere except the place he first became famous: a TV screen that isn’t streaming. 

Revenue hit $22.5 billion… which is not bad unless you’re an analyst who already penciled in $22.75 billion because you looked at a Fibonacci spiral, lit a candle, and manifested it. And analysts, bless their fragile egos, absolutely cannot handle being told “almost.” 

So instead of focusing on literally anything positive (like streaming profit exploding 39%, parks printing money like the Fed in a liquidity crisis, or subscriber counts continuing to grow higher) they immediately punted the stock into the sun. 

Let’s start with the good stuff before we get to the flaming trash. Streaming was the star of the show. Disney+ and Hulu added 12.5 million new subscribers, which is hilarious because half of those came from a hostage negotiation with Charter Communications that ended with Charter customers getting Hulu tossed into their cable bundle like a peace offering. 

(Source: Axios)

The other half were actual subscribers who willingly paid money… shocking, I know. Streaming profit jumped to $352 million as Disney continues raising prices with confidence that parents will keep subscribing as long as their children are addicted to Moana and Bluey.

Then you’ve got the parks… where boomers go to relive nostalgia and insist “it’s just for the kids” as they elbow toddlers to get to Space Mountain. Revenue and profits both climbed because no amount of inflation will stop American families from dropping $8,000 to sweat in Florida and stand in line for three hours to meet a man dressed as a cartoon rodent. Cruises were packed, too, proving the only recession-proof entities in America are Costco hot dogs and parents who promised their kids a Disney trip.

Now for the fun part. Traditional TV (the business Bob Iger pretends isn’t in the room) crumpled on impact. Profit plunged 21% as ESPN costs exploded and ad revenue left the building. Speaking of ESPN, the YouTube TV feud is still a very real thing. Millions haven’t seen ESPN since Halloween. When Google (the company that tracks your fridge-door openings) calls you unreasonable, that’s tough.

And to make things messier, the entertainment division got beat up too. Operating income fell more than a third because this quarter didn’t have any billion-dollar box office monsters like Inside Out 2 or Deadpool & Wolverine. Instead, Disney served up a slate of movies that were straight up buns. Still, Disney tried sweet-talking shareholders with a 50% dividend increase and a plan to double buybacks in 2026. Classic “please don’t leave me” behavior.

Bob Iger insisted the company has “momentum,” which is technically true if you only look at the half that isn’t being eaten alive by the collapse of cable television. And he’s promising double-digit EPS growth for 2026 and 2027… which investors would love to believe, except that the TV business is aging like milk in a sauna and Disney is out here trying to pretend it still has six months left before the expiration date.

But hey, the parks are booming, streaming is finally making money, and millions of new subscribers just showed up for the Disney+-Hulu bundle whether they wanted it or not. Cable may be entering the hospice era, but the rest of Disney is alive and kicking.

At the time of publishing this article, Stocks.News holds positions in Disney and Google as mentioned in the article.