We’re Disney adults! Of course our favorite days of the year are when Disney holds earnings calls! 

Yep, the fiscal earnings calls held by The Walt Disney Company happen four times each year, and they’re where we can hear some BIG updates and important information. The very first quarterly earnings call for 2024 will take place on February 7th at 4:30PM EST. We’re just a little over a month into the new year in early February, so what can we expect to learn from Disney during the call? Let’s talk about it!

Even though we’re only a month into the new year, Disney typically provides a lot of information based on the last couple of months of the previous year and how those numbers are carrying into the new year.

Their goal here is to give truthful and useful data, but also ease investor’s minds about any shaky ground. They put rumors to rest (No, we’re not selling ABC…yet.), and field investor questions about other situations (*cough cough* Nelson Peltz *cough cough*).

During the final earnings call of 2023, we got detailed info on what the 2024 focus would be. There were four main opportunities that Disney highlighted at the time: profit from streaming, make ESPN+ the preeminent sports streaming platform, increase revenue in the parks and within the Experiences sector, and improve economics and output in the film studios.

Based on these opportunities, here are two things that we’re expecting Disney to touch on in the upcoming earnings call.

1.Theme Park Earnings and Attendance

One of Iger’s main priorities this year is to increase theme park attendance and revenue. Of course it is. Disney’s Experiences arm (previously called Disney Parks, Experiences, and Products — or DPEP) is its cash cow. No seriously. This is the part of the company that always profits — and often props up the rest of the company’s shakier investments (looking at you Disney+). In the November earnings call, Disney referred to Experiences as a “cash flow generation business.”

Also in that previous earnings call, Disney touted its successful “fixing” of the crap-fest troubles that plagued the pandemic year, and a new focus on “building” — i.e. it’s time to spend some money! They promised HUGE investments into the parks, both domestic and international. But also slipped in that big park expansions would be made in the “back half of the 10 years — with more gradual investments in the first half.”

That said, Experiences (e.g. theme parks, Disney Vacation Club, Cruise Line, Adventures by Disney, etc…) revenue was still up as of November, and likely will be again. Though Disney has made regular noise reminding investors that they made a TON of money during the 2021 revenge travel and Disney World 50th Anniversary push, so they expect it to be a bit before revenue returns to that level.

So what kind of tidbits could we get here at the beginning of February? What will Disney dangle in front of fans and investors to whet our appetites and make us believe that they will indeed match or overtake the huge excitement being caused by Universal Studios’ Epic Universe gate opening in 2025?

Probably some blue-sky stuff — maybe teaser announcements about timelines for an Animal Kingdom Dinoland re-theme, and the Tiana’s Bayou Adventure opening (we’re honestly getting convinced here at DFB that Tiana’s Bayou Adventure is going to open sooner than we all thought it would…).

But due to Disney’s most recent reminder via the Disney Parks Blog that the a Magic Kingdom expansion concept is alive and well, we’re definitely expecting a mention of that in one way or another.

And we may hear a little more about the Disneyland Forward project, which Disney has made a few announcements about very recently — including Tangled and Coco areas and more.

2. Streaming Updates

Bob Iger shared in 2023 that restructuring the Walt Disney Company to focus on the future of streaming was his number one priority. In December, Disney+ launched the beta version of a bundle with Hulu. So in February, we can expect some updates on this.

We’re also eagerly anticipating hearing more about when Disney projects they’ll be making substantial profit from Disney+, which they promise is totes going to happen.

In November, Disney said that they should make profit from the streaming platform again (for the first time since before the pandemic) before the fourth quarter of 2024. Here are the deets on Disney+ from the November earnings call. 

The Streaming Wars — and positioning Disney+ strategically within them — has been a major focus for Disney since the pandemic. Because so much bandwidth and money has been invested in Disney+, Disney investors are not quiiiite as comfortable as they’d like to be when it comes to the stability of this outsized leg in the company’s three-legged revenue strategy stool. (How’s that for a metaphor?) So expect to hear several questions from investors on this area of the company.

We could also hear updates on whether or not Disney is planning to attain media rights to major sports organizations to complete Iger’s mission of making ESPN+ the preeminent sports streaming platform.

BONUS: Pre-Call Announcements?

Now, something else that we should be on the look-out for is some pre-earnings-call announcements. Disney will occasionally set the stage before the earnings call — in an effort to boost eyeballs, brand status, and stock prices — by making a big announcement or leaking some positive numbers and data. So don’t forget to join our newsletter (it’s free!) to keep up with any last-minute, under the wire updates. (They like to talk about their new animatronic robots a lot.)

And there you have it! Of course, we’re also HOPING that Disney could share the We’ll just have to wait and see!

We’ll be reporting the announcements right here, so make sure to follow along so that you never miss a thing.

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What announcements are you hoping that Disney will make? Let us know in the comments!