Thanks to the profit growth of streaming media and movies, entertainment giant disney ended the 2024 fiscal year on a high note.

On Thursday, Disney's financial results showed that both sales and profits for the fourth quarter exceeded Wall Street's expectations. At the same time, the company also uncommonly forecasted a substantial increase in profit over the next three years.

After the opening of the U.S. stock market today, Disney surged more than 11% at one point.

Streaming media business is strong.

According to the financial report, as of the fourth quarter ending September 30, Disney's revenue reached $22.574 billion, a 6% year-on-year increase, higher than the market's expected $22.47 billion.

The revenue was $0.948 billion, a 6% decrease from the same period last year; Adjusted EPS for Q4 was $1.14, slightly higher than the expected $1.1.

By business segment, Disney's performance growth is mainly driven by the entertainment business, and the profitability of the streaming media business has also improved.

Among them, the revenue of the entertainment business increased by 14%, reaching $10.8 billion, and the operating income of the segment increased by over 100%, reaching $1.07 billion.

The company launched "Deadpool and Wolverine" and "Despicable Me 2" this quarter, both of which are blockbuster movies.

In terms of streaming business, the company's direct-to-consumer services brought in $0.321 billion in revenue, compared to a loss of $0.387 billion in the same period last year.

Meanwhile, Disney+ added more than 4 million "core" subscribers, currently exceeding 0.12 billion; DTC business revenue was $5.8 billion.

However, Disney's sports division (led by ESPN) and experience division showed a slight weakness, leading to lower revenue than last year.

Sports revenue remained relatively flat at $3.9 billion, but operating income decreased by 5% to $0.929 billion.

The experience division (including theme parks and consumer products) saw a 1% increase in revenue this quarter to $8.24 billion, while operating income decreased by 6% to $1.7 billion. Among them, Disney's theme park division's operating income dropped by 5.7% to $1.66 billion.

Throughout the 2024 fiscal year, Disney's total revenue increased by 3% year-on-year, reaching $91.4 billion, compared to $88.9 billion in the previous year.

The company's net income saw a significant increase, rising by 70% to $5.773 billion, with net income attributable to Disney skyrocketing over 100% to $4.972 billion.

Diluted earnings per share also doubled, rising from $1.29 to $2.72.

The revenue growth is mainly due to a 3% increase in service revenue, reaching $81.8 billion, benefiting from higher subscription revenue and growth in parks and experiences business.

Although theatrical distribution revenue has declined, the company's service costs decreased by 1%, which also contributed to the overall profit increase.

Disney's restructuring and impairment charges decreased by 8% to $3.595 billion, in addition, the company also reported a decrease in depreciation and amortization expenses.

Strong performance guidance for the next three years.

Disney's CEO Bob Chapek said this has been a crucial and successful year for Disney.

"As a result of the significant progress we have made, we have emerged from a period of significant challenges and disruptions, prepared for growth, and optimistic about our future."

It is worth mentioning that Disney has also released three-year long-term profit forecasts, including for 2015, 2026, and 2027.

This is rare for a company that has never made long-term profit forecasts in its history.

Disney expects adjusted earnings to achieve high single-digit growth in the 2025 fiscal year, higher than the expected 4%. Among them, streaming operation revenue will increase by $0.875 billion, sports operation revenue will achieve double-digit growth, and experience operation revenue will grow by 6-8%.

In addition, the company expects EPS to achieve double-digit growth in the 2026 fiscal year. The operating income of sports and experience business will achieve single-digit growth, while the operating income of entertainment business will achieve low double-digit growth.

In the 2027 fiscal year, Disney expects EPS to achieve double-digit growth.

It is noteworthy that at the time of Disney's financial report release, the company is looking for a successor to the current CEO Bob Iger.

Last month, Disney announced plans to announce the next CEO in early 2026, to be led by current Disney board member and former Morgan Stanley (MS) CEO James Gorman. He will serve as the new chairman of the board, effective January 2, 2025.

He will assume the role of the new chairman of the board, effective from January 2, 2025.

Editor/Lambor