Shares of The Walt Disney Company (NYSE: DIS) were down over 2% on Wednesday after the company delivered mixed results for the third quarter of 2025. The top and bottom line numbers grew versus the prior year, but while earnings surpassed analysts’ estimates, revenue fell short. Meanwhile, Disney has laid out some major plans to drive growth across its businesses which provide ample optimism for the future.
Q3 results
Disney’s revenues increased 2% year-over-year to $23.7 billion in Q3 2025. GAAP earnings per share more than doubled to $2.92 compared to last year. Adjusted EPS rose 16% YoY to $1.61. While earnings beat expectations, revenues missed.
Business performance and plans
In Q3, Disney’s Entertainment segment revenues rose by 1% compared to the previous year. In its movies business, the company saw growth across its popular brands and franchises which extended into its streaming business as well. The success of movies like Lilo & Stitch and Moana 2 has driven the viewership of their original versions and prequels on Disney+. DIS is also seeing strong engagement for series like Grey’s Anatomy and Family Guy on its streaming platform.
Disney plans to integrate Hulu into Disney+ to boost its streaming offering by bringing together its popular franchises, general entertainment, news and live sports content in a single app. This move is expected to provide subscribers with a wide range of choices in a convenient and personalized manner while also helping the company grow its profits and margins by driving higher engagement, lowering churn, and generating revenue from advertising.
DIS ended the quarter with 183 million Disney+ and Hulu subscriptions, which was up 2.6 million sequentially. Disney+ ended Q3 with 128 million subscribers, up 1.8 million sequentially, helped by international growth.
In the fourth quarter of 2025, Disney expects its total Disney+ and Hulu subscriptions to increase by more than 10 million compared to the third quarter. The majority of the increase is expected to come from Hulu as a result of the expanded Charter deal. The company anticipates a modest increase in Disney+ subscribers in Q4 compared to Q3.
Revenue in the Sports segment decreased 5% in Q3. The company plans to launch its ESPN+ streaming service in August. It has also entered into an agreement with NFL to expand its content offering on its sports streaming platform.
The Experiences segment saw revenue growth of 8% in the quarter. Disney has expansions going on in all its theme parks worldwide with new attractions. It is also expanding its cruise line with the launch of two new ships, which will bring its total fleet to eight cruise ships.
Outlook
For the full year of 2025, DIS expects earnings, on an adjusted basis, to be $5.85 per share, which represents an increase of 18% from the previous year.
