The Mouse is regaining its mojo on Wall Street. Disney stock, which hit a 2024 bottom of $83.91 over the summer, has roared back to life and is seeing a second straight day of significant gains after an upbeat earnings report Thursday morning. Shares were up nearly 4% as of mid-day Friday, reaching a 6-month high north of $113. They have gained 24% in 2024 to date. While there are some reasons for concern (the ongoing meltdown of linear TV assets, the ramp-up in sports rights costs, the challenge of picki ...

Disney CEO Bob Iger had a “hot mic” moment on the company’s fiscal fourth quarter earnings call Thursday morning, questioning aloud whether he should have revealed key streaming numbers. Fielding a question from a Wall Street analyst about the growth outlook and pricing strategy of Disney+, Iger divulged how many Disney+ subscribers take the ad-supported tier in the U.S. (37%) and globally (30%). The disclosure was unusual in the streaming sector. Netflix, for instance, has never broken out a similar perce ...

Just a year ago, Disney CEO Bob Iger was in the midst of an ongoing apology tour for the studio after string of tepid box office returns. At a conference last November, he acknowledged that things had a taken a downturn and promised, as he had been doing regularly, that Disney will be stressing quality over quantity after The Marvels, the latest Indiana Jones and a handful of other films disappointed.  “I’ve been very public about it saying, and I would say right now, my number one priority is to help the ...

Disney‘s process to identify CEO Bob Iger‘s successor will officially include external candidates as well as four current executives. The Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday morning on the deliberations extending to outsized candidates. One particular outsider, Electronic Arts CEO Andrew Wilson, was called out in the Journal report and pictured prominently in a photo. When asked by Deadline if that treatment reflected Wilson’s status as a leading candidate in the derby, a Disney rep declined to comment. M ...

Apple stock, which has risen 25% in 2024 to date but largely tracked the Nasdaq 100 Index, pulled back in after-hours trading after the company released solid but far-from-dazzling quarterly results. Revenue rose 6% from the year-ago period to reach $94.9 billion, nipping Wall Street analysts’ estimates. Excluding the one-time charge related to the impact of the reversal of the European General Court’s State Aid decision, diluted earnings per share came in at $1.64. Shares in Apple closed Thursday’s regul ...

Amazon topped Wall Street estimates in the third quarter, posting an 11% rise in revenue compared with the year-ago quarter and diluted earnings per share of $1.43. The earnings figure came in well above the Street expectation of $1.14, while total revenue of $158.9 billion eased past the consensus forecast of $157.3 billion. The company said it expects revenue in the holiday fourth quarter to grow 7% to 11% compared with the same period in 2023, reaching between $181.5 billion and $188.5 billion. CEO And ...

Platforms handily beat Wall Street analysts’ estimates in the third quarter, offering an upbeat view of the holiday quarter as its social networks combined to reach almost 3.3 billion daily users. Earnings per share jumped 37% from the year-earlier period to $6.03 on a diluted basis, with total revenue climbing 19% to $40.6 billion. Analysts had called for EPS of $5.25 and revenue of $40.29 billion. The number of daily active users across , Instagram and WhatsApp reached 3.29 billion, up 5% from the year-a ...

After debuting its Black Friday NFL coverage last November, Amazon is leaning into the ritual, announcing it will add an NBA game on the day starting in 2025. The tech giant’s Prime Video division secured a long-term rights deal with the NBA, bolstering its live sports offerings and adding more enticements for ad buyers. While Amazon has NFL rights through 2032, its Black Friday games have been slated one by one, though the league and the company have both expressed considerable enthusiasm for the venture. ...

Advertising revenue at YouTube reflected the video giant’s continued momentum, rising 12% in the third quarter compared with the year-ago period. The haul of $8.92 billion in the period ended September 30 came as many ad sellers, particularly traditional media companies reliant on legacy TV, have been reporting flat or low-single-digit growth. Most media companies will be reporting quarterly numbers over the next two weeks, with YouTube now setting a high bar for ad growth. The performance of YouTube helpe ...

EXCLUSIVE: In a significant changing of the guard in Netflix's senior executive ranks, Chief Communications Officer Rachel Whetstone and Global Public Policy VP Dean Garfield are leaving the company. The news has just been shared with staffers in an internal memo. Co-CEO Ted Sarandos intends to conduct a search for a Chief Global Affairs Officer, whose portfolio will include both policy and communications. No one as yet has been identified for the role, and external candidates are to be considered, a person ...