The stock of Walt Disney Co. (DIS) is down 5% after the entertainment giant reported a loss of four million subscribers at its Disney+ streaming service.
Despite the drop in subscribers, Disney reported that its financial losses from the streaming service narrowed as price increases took hold in the quarter ended March 31 of this year.
The company also reported significant growth at its theme parks during what was its fiscal second quarter.
Disney reported earnings per share (EPS) of $0.93 U.S., which matched analysts’ forecasts, according to Refinitiv data.
Revenue in the quarter came in at $21.82 billion U.S. compared to $21.78 billion U.S. that was expected.
Total subscriptions at Disney+ were 157.8 million in the quarter, which was below the 163.17 million anticipated on Wall Street.
This was Bob Iger’s second earnings report since returning to helm the company late last year. He is overseeing a broad restructuring of the company that has included 7,000 job cuts.
Most of the Disney+ subscriber losses came from an 8% drop in membership at India’s Disney+ Hotstar. An additional 600,000 subscribers were lost in the North American market.
However, the company saw higher subscription revenue at Disney+, where average revenue per user rose 20% to $7.14 U.S. among domestic subscribers.
Disney said that it plans to add Hulu content to the Disney+ streaming app, while also announcing it would raise the price of its ad-free streaming service later this year.
Disney’s linear TV networks posted $6.63 billion U.S. in revenue for the latest quarter, down 7% from a year earlier.
A bright spot for the company came from its theme parks, which saw a 17% increase in revenue to $7.7 billion U.S. during the most recent quarter.
Prior to today’s drop, Disney’s stock had declined 4% over the last 12 months to trade at $101.14 U.S. per share.
