The Walt Disney Company reported over $82 billion in revenues in 2022, compared to over $67 billion and over $65 billion in 2020.
Key stats
Subscriber Growth per Segment
Disney+ subscriber base grew from 73.7 million in 2020 to 164.2 million in 2022, indicating a rapid expansion in the number of subscribers.
ESPN+ subscriber base grew from 10.3 million in 2020 to 24.3 million in 2022, showing significant growth in the sports streaming segment.
Hulu subscriber base grew from 36.6 million in 2020 to 47.2 million in 2022, indicating steady growth in the on-demand streaming service.
Comparison between Subscriber Growth for Disney vs. Netflix
Disney’s subscriber growth is coming from various platforms such as Disney+, ESPN+, and Hulu, whereas Netflix is a single-platform streaming service.
Despite being a multi-platform streaming service, Disney’s subscriber growth rate is comparable to Netflix, which had 230.74 million subscribers as of Q4 2021.
Growth Trend Analysis between Revenue and Profit
Disney’s revenue increased steadily from $55.14 billion in 2017 to $82.72 billion in 2022, representing a CAGR of approximately 11%.
Profit, which was $8.98 billion in 2017, increased to $3.14 billion in 2022, after a drop in 2020 due to an aggressive acquisition strategy started in 2019 to revamp its streaming platform and compete against Netflix.
The revenue and profit trend shows that despite the aggressive acquisition strategy, the company’s revenue grew steadily, and profitability has improved over time. Yet, the acquisition strategy worked on one side to recoup Disney’s subscriber base vs. Netflix, reducing its profitability.
Disney’s main shareholders include Robert A. Iger, chief executive officer (CEO) of The Walt Disney Company between 2005-2020 and he returned as CEO by 2022. Other significant individual shareholders, as of 2022, comprise Susan E. Arnold, Christine M. McCarthy, and Alan N. Braverman. Main institutional investors include Blackrock Inc. with 6.4% and The Vanguard Group with 8%, respectively.
It would be hard to argue for a more recognizable entertainment brand than Disney. Disney is, of course, synonymous with Walt Disney, but it was Walt and his brother Roy who started the company in 1923 in Burbank, California. Disney content is now broadcast on over 100 channels in 34 different languages across the globe.
Gennaro is the creator of FourWeekMBA, which reached about four million business people, comprising C-level executives, investors, analysts, product managers, and aspiring digital entrepreneurs in 2022 alone | He is also Director of Sales for a high-tech scaleup in the AI Industry | In 2012, Gennaro earned an International MBA with emphasis on Corporate Finance and Business Strategy.
