Disney, SeaWorld post small revenue gains, quarterly reports show
Walt Disney Co. and United Parks & Resorts, parent of SeaWorld Orlando, on Wednesday announced small gains in revenue for their theme parks during their most recent fiscal quarters.
Third-quarter revenue for Disney’s Experiences segment, which incorporates global attractions including Walt Disney World’s parks and Disney Cruise Line, was $8.38 billion, a 2% increase. Operating income was $2.22 billion, a 3% decrease.
The entire company’s revenue for the quarter was $23.16 billion, up 4%, and its operating income of $4.22 billion was an increase of 19%. A standout statistic, the company said, was Disney’s streaming segment — Disney+, Hulu and ESPN+ — posting a profit for the first time.
Executives said the parks’ trend was expected to continue in upcoming quarters despite expectations for a “flattish” fourth quarter overall.
“I want to emphasize we actually had 2% revenue growth in Q3,” Hugh Johnston, chief financial officer of Walt Disney Co., said in a call with market analysts Wednesday. “The reason, obviously, is the IP [intellectual property] is so strong in our parks, it really does attract a strong audience. And people are reluctant to cancel vacations.”
But some economic forces are pulling vacationers away from Disney parks, he noted.
“The lower-income consumer is feeling a little bit of stress. The high-income consumer is traveling internationally a bit more,” he said.
Orlando-based United Parks – which operates 13 parks including SeaWorld Orlando, Discovery Cove, Aquatica water park and Busch Gardens Tampa Bay – reported second quarter revenue of $497.6 million, up 0.3% from a year ago. Net income was $91.1 million, up 4.7%. Parks attendance was up 0.8%.
“We also achieved a record level for in-park per capita spending, which is a testament to the continued success of our strategies and investment in this area,” Marc Swanson, United Parks CEO, said during an earnings call.
The Penguin Trek roller coaster debuted at SeaWorld Orlando in July, the final month of the financial quarter, later than the company hoped.
“There were some things that popped up that kept it from opening as early as we’d like, but ideally we would have opened that ride closer to Memorial Day or something like that,” Swanson said. “So we lost almost a month or so of not having that ride.”
United officials said they are in continued discussions with “various potential partners” for on-property hotels and an attraction – not yet announced – coming in 2025.
And they are anticipating spillover benefits from the opening of Epic Universe, the theme park being built by Universal Orlando scheduled to open next year.
“We have a new attraction coming to SeaWorld Orlando next year that I’m really excited about. And we’ll have other initiatives,” Swanson said. “When more people come to the market, we have an opportunity to compel those folks to come visit our park as well.”
Disney’s report and earnings call did not delve into future theme park projects. More details are expected out of the D23 Expo in Anaheim, California, this weekend. The company has said it will invest $60 billion in its attractions.
“The investments that we’re making into the experiences business, we feel very, very good about it. It’s been a great returning business for a long time,” Johnston said Wednesday. “We wouldn’t be making capital investments in an accelerated way if we didn’t expect to accelerate growth out of those businesses.”