Walt Disney (DIS): A look at the performance of the streaming business in 1Q25

Shares of The Walt Disney Company (NYSE: DIS) dropped 1% on Tuesday. The stock has gained 6% over the past three months. The company delivered top and bottom line growth for the first quarter of 2025, with revenue increasing 5% to $24.7 billion and adjusted earnings per share increasing 44% to $1.76 on a year-over-year basis. Disney’s streaming business forms a key part of its overall growth strategy. Here’s a look at the performance of this division in the most recent quarter:

Direct-to-Consumer performance

Revenues in the Direct-to-Consumer (DTC) business increased 9% YoY to $6 billion in Q1 2025. The segment generated operating income of $293 million in the quarter compared to a loss of $138 million in the year-ago period. The business benefited from growth in subscription revenue, driven by price increases and subscriber growth. DTC advertising revenue was down 2% in Q1, but excluding Disney+ Hotstar, ad revenue grew 16%.

Subscriber numbers

Disney ended Q1 2025 with a total of 124.6 million Disney+ paid subscribers, down 1% sequentially. Disney+ domestic subscribers, which include subscribers in the US and Canada, grew 1% sequentially to 56.8 million while international subscribers dropped 2% to 67.8 million.

Total Hulu subscribers grew 3% sequentially to 53.6 million. The company ended the quarter with 178 million Disney+ and Hulu subscriptions, reflecting an increase of 0.9 million subscribers compared to Q4 2024.

Average monthly revenue per paid subscriber for Disney+ increased 5% in Q1 2025. Domestic average revenue was up 4% while international was up 6% in the quarter.

Plans

Disney expects engagement on its streaming platform to grow on the back of strong content and the addition of new features. Movies like Moana and TV shows like Bluey, Grey’s Anatomy, and Family Guy remain extremely popular on Disney+. The company’s rollout of several personalization features along with the launch of Streams, which offers scheduled playlists with tailored content, is helping drive engagement.

The newly launched ESPN tile on Disney+, which provides bundle subscribers access to ESPN+ sports content, is displaying encouraging levels of engagement. The launch of ESPN’s streaming app, which will also be made available on Disney+, is anticipated to further help drive engagement. The company’s bundled offerings are expected to help drive meaningful growth going forward.

Outlook

In the second quarter of 2025, DIS expects a modest decline in Disney+ subscribers on a sequential basis, due to an anticipated temporary rise in churn caused by price increases, as well as the expiration of a wholesale deal in Europe.

For fiscal year 2025, the company expects operating income for the DTC business to increase approx. $875 million versus the prior year.