Mickey Mouse wants to change his narrative.phl63

The Walt Disney Company rarely provides guidance about what investors can expect in future earnings. On Thursday, however, the entertainment giant shared growth expectations with investors — not just for 2025, but also for 2026 and 2027.

Entertainment streaming, for instance, will generate roughly $1 billion in operating profit in 2025, up from $143 million this year, Disney said. Total per-share earnings will increase by “double digit” percentages in 2026 and 2027, compared with the previous years, in part because of new cruise ships and theme park expansions.

“We’ve got visibility,” Hugh F. Johnston, Disney’s chief financial officer, said.

Investors responded favorably, driving up shares roughly 7 percent in morning trading, to over $110.

Disney has desperately needed a new story line on Wall Street: Shares have languished, even amid a broader market upturn, in large part because of uncertainty, something investors loathe, about the company’s future.

“There were some people who wanted to say that Iger brought the magic back,” said Doug Creutz, an analyst at Cowen & Company, referring to Robert A. Iger’s return as Disney’s chief executive in late 2022. “Well, let’s hold on a minute. There has actually not been a whole lot to get people excited.”

Disney continues to have big problems, the largest being the atrophying traditional television business. Operating profit at Disney’s entertainment networks, including ABC, FX, National Geographic and the Disney Channel, plunged 38 percent in the most recent quarter compared with a year earlier, the company said in its earnings report on Thursday. Operating profit at ESPN fell 6 percent, with Disney citing lower viewership and higher costs for college football rights.

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