Overall, Disney reported a revenue of $21.82bn and adjusted earnings per share of $1.06 cents for the period.
Disney+ added 11.8m paid subscribers in the quarter ending January 1, 2022.
Overall, the company’s revenue rose 34% to $21.82bn for the quarter ended January 1. This exceeded analyst expectations of $20.91bn. For the full year 2021, Disney Plus’ subscriber base grew 37%, up from 94.9m a year prior.
Disney+ is yet to hit profitability with an ARPU of $4.41, but its subscriber count has grown 37% year-over-year due to international expansion and a high-profile content slate made up of titles like The Book of Boba Fett, Hawkeye and Encanto.
Disney+ began this year with a total of 129.8m subscribers, or 37% more than the 94.9m it had 12 months earlier. The total in the US and Canada grew by 18% to 42.9m over the year, while the international total, excluding Disney+ Hotstar, increased by 40% to 41.1m. Disney+ Hotstar, which operates in markets such as India, was at 45.9 million subscribers.
Speaking on Disney’s investor’s call, CEO Bob Chapek reiterated that the company is on course to hit its targets: “We continue to manage our services for the long term and maintain confidence in our guidance of 230m to 260m total paid Disney+ subscribers globally by the end of fiscal 2024.”
Meanwhile, the ESPN+ subscriber total as of January 1 stood at 21.3m, or 76% more than a year earlier. Hulu had a total of 45.3m(+15%), of which 40.9m (+16%) were SVOD only and 4.3m (+8%) live TV and VOD.
The D2C revenues for the quarter ending January 1 increased 34% to $4.7bn and operating loss increased 27% to $0.6bn. The increase in operating loss was due to higher losses at Disney+, and to a lesser extent, ESPN+, partially offset by improved results at Hulu.
