Disney wins this round: Here’s where the streaming giants stand at the end of earnings season
This round, Disney beat Netflix.
Disney’s continued growth, juxtaposed with a disappointing quarter for Netflix, was the big story of this quarter’s earnings season. Disney benefited from a handful of popular movies that it placed directly on its Disney+ service in the quarter ended June 30, such as “Cruella” and “Luca,” while Netflix is banking on a return to growth next quarter, when hit originals such as “Sex Education” and “Money Heist” return to the service.
Disney+ and Hotstar, Disney’s Indian streaming service, added 12.4 million new subscribers from last quarter, while Netflix added just 1 million new customers. Last quarter, Disney added almost 9 million new Disney+ subscribers and Netflix added about 4 million new customers.
“Last quarter, we had a little bit of weakness in streaming subs both at Netflix and Disney. The weakness continued for Netflix, but it didn’t for Disney,” said Mark Zgutowicz, an analyst at Rosenblatt Equity Research, in a CNBC interview. “Disney+ is about 90 million subs behind Netflix globally now. With this number today, it’s tracking toward a 20 million net add gain on Netflix this year.”
All of the big streaming video players have reported earnings this quarter. The following is a rundown of where all the major streaming services stand:
Netflix
- 209 million global paying subscribers (Up 1 million from last quarter)
- 73.95 million subscribers in U.S. and Canada
- ARPU for U.S. and Canada: $14.54
Disney
- Disney+ (including Hotstar): 116 million subscribers, $4.16 global ARPU (Up 12.4 million from last quarter)
- Hulu SVOD only: 39.1 million subscribers, $13.15 ARPU
- Hulu SVOD+Live TV: 3.7 million subscribers, $84.09 ARPU
- ESPN+: 14.9 million subscribers, $4.47 ARPU
Amazon Prime Video
- More than 175 million Amazon Prime members have streamed shows and movies in the past year (No updates given during second-quarter earnings)
- Prime memberships cost $12.99 a month or $119 a year, but offer many benefits other than streaming video — including free one-day or two-day shipping on most Amazon packages. Amazon does not break out ARPU by Prime members.
Apple
- Apple TV+ subscribers: ? (No updates given during second-quarter earnings)
- ARPU: ?
Apple‘s free one-year trials to Apple TV+, which it gives away with new hardware such as iPhones, are now starting to expire for many customers, which could spur the company to offer an update on its next earnings call.
NBCUniversal’s Peacock
- 54 million “signups” (Up 12 million from last quarter)
- More than 20 million monthly active accounts
- ARPU: ?
- Three tiers: Free with commercials, $4.99 a month for fewer ads and more content, $9.99 a month ad-free
Comcast‘s NBCUniversal, the parent company of CNBC, successfully used the Tokyo 2020 Olympics Games to push Peacock subscriptions. NBCUniversal will likely add more Olympics-related signups next quarter, as it reported Peacock statistics only about half way through the Games.
While the company has not released an official figure for ARPU yet, NBCUniversal estimated in January that Peacock would deliver $6 to $7 a month across its three tiers.
WarnerMedia’s HBO and HBO Max
- 67.5 million global subscribers (Up 3.6 million)
- 47 million domestic subscribers (Up 2.8 million)
- ARPU: $11.90 domestically
AT&T raised its year-end global subscriber forecast for HBO Max to 73 million from 70 million in its second-quarter earnings statement. As of March, it expects 120 to 150 million subscribers by the end of 2025.
ViacomCBS
- More than 42 million subscribers across Paramount+, Showtime, Noggin, BET+, and other platforms (Up about 6.5 million, the “overwhelming majority” of which came from Paramount+)
- Over 52 million monthly average Pluto TV users (Up 2 million)
- ARPU: ?
Average revenue per user remains a question mark for ViacomCBS, which has still chosen not to reveal the statistic.
“We’ve been on a journey of increased disclosure over time,” ViacomCBS CEO Bob Bakish told CNBC. “We will continue to evolve disclosure.”
Discovery
- 18 million direct-to-consumer subscribers as of Aug. 3 (up 3 million)
- Overall ARPU: About $7 per month
- ARPU for ad-supported Discovery+: More than $10 per month
Starz
- 28.9 million global subscribers (Down 600,000), 16.7 million of which are streaming
- ARPU: About $6 per month
Lionsgate‘s Starz actually lost total subscribers in the quarter, though the decline relates to cancellations of the company’s linear service. Streaming customers rose 58% year-over-year to 16.7 million globally.
AMC Networks
- Total subscribers: ?
- ARPU: ?
AMC Networks said earlier this month it expects to have at least 9 million paid streaming subscribers across its platforms by the end of the year. The company’s flagship streaming product is AMC+, which may see a boost in subscribers after signing a deal with Verizon earlier this week, giving certain subscribers a free trial of the product for 6 or 12 months.
Disclosure: NBCUniversal is the parent company of CNBC.
WATCH: Why this analyst is staying neutral on Disney despite earnings beat
Intuit CEO Sasan Goodarzi speaks at the opening night of the Intuit Dome in Los Angeles on Aug. 15, 2024.
Rodin Eckenroth | Filmmagic | Getty Images
Intuit shares fell 6% in extended trading Thursday after the finance software maker issued a revenue forecast for the current quarter that trailed analysts’ estimates due to some sales being delayed.
Here’s how the company performed in comparison with LSEG consensus:
- Earnings per share: $2.50 adjusted vs. $2.35 expected
- Revenue: $3.28 billion vs. $3.14 billion
Revenue increased 10% year over year in the quarter, which ended Oct. 31, according to a statement. Net income fell to $197 million, or 70 cents per share, from $241 million, or 85 cents per share, a year ago.
While results for the fiscal first quarter topped estimates, second-quarter guidance was light. Intuit said it anticipates a single-digit decline in revenue from the consumer segment because of promotional changes for the TurboTax desktop software in retail environments. While that will affect revenue timing, it won’t have any impact on the full 2025 fiscal year.
Intuit called for second-quarter earnings of $2.55 to $2.61 per share, with $3.81 billion to $3.85 billion in revenue. The consensus from LSEG was $3.20 per share and $3.87 billion in revenue.
For the full year, Intuit expects $19.16 to $19.36 in adjusted earnings per share on $18.16 billion to $18.35 billion in revenue. That implies revenue growth of between 12% and 13%. Analysts polled by LSEG were looking for $19.33 in adjusted earnings per share and $18.26 billion in revenue.
Revenue from Intuit’s global business solutions group came in at $2.5 billion in the first quarter. The figure was up 9% and in line with estimates, according to StreetAccount. Formerly known as the small business and self-employed segment, the group includes Mailchimp, QuickBooks, small business financing and merchant payment processing.
“We are seeing good progress serving mid-market customers in MailChimp, but are seeing higher churn from smaller customers,” Sandeep Aujla, Intuit’s finance chief, said on a conference call with analysts. “We are addressing this by making product enhancements and driving feature discoverability and adoption to improve first-time use and customer retention.”
Better outcomes are a few quarters away, Aujla said.
CreditKarma revenue came in at $524 million, above StreetAccount’s $430 million consensus.
At Thursday’s close, Intuit shares were up about 9% so far in 2024, while the S&P 500 has gained almost 25% in the same period.
On Tuesday Intuit shares slipped 5% after The Washington Post said President-elect Donald Trump’s proposed “Department of Government Efficiency” had discussed developing a mobile app for federal income tax filing. But a mobile app for submitting returns from Intuit is “already available to all Americans,” CEO Sasan Goodarzi told CNBC’s Jon Fortt.
Goodarzi said on CNBC that he’s personally communicating with leaders of the incoming presidential administration.
On the earnings call, Goodarzi sounded optimistic about the economy.
“Our belief, which is not baked into our guidance, is that we will see an improved environment as we look ahead in 2025, particularly just with some of the things that I mentioned earlier around just interest rates, jobs, the regulatory environment,” he said. “These things have a real burden on businesses. And we believe that a better future is to come.”
WATCH: H&R Block, Intuit shares fall after report Trump administration is considering a free tax-filing app
-
Sports2 years ago‘Storybook stuff’: Inside the night Bryce Harper sent the Phillies to the World Series
-
Sports8 months agoStory injured on diving stop, exits Red Sox game
-
Sports2 years agoMLB Rank 2023: Ranking baseball’s top 100 players
-
Sports1 year agoGame 1 of WS least-watched in recorded history
-
Sports3 years ago
Team Europe easily wins 4th straight Laver Cup
-
Environment2 years agoJapan and South Korea have a lot at stake in a free and open South China Sea
-
Environment2 years agoGame-changing Lectric XPedition launched as affordable electric cargo bike
-
Business2 years agoBank of England’s extraordinary response to government policy is almost unthinkable | Ed Conway