迪士尼(DIS.US)2025财年第二季度业绩电话会
文章语言：
简
繁
EN
Share
Minutes
原文
会议摘要
Disney announced a new theme park in Abu Dhabi, reported strong financial results with significant growth in the experiences segment, emphasized streaming as a core growth platform, celebrated content success, and noted a healthy advertising market.
会议速览
Walt Disney Company Announces Theme Park in Abu DhabiThe Walt Disney Company announces a partnership to build a Disney theme park in Abu Dhabi, marking the seventh Disney theme park resort globally. The park will blend Disney stories with Emirati culture and leverage cutting-edge technology for immersive experiences. Domestic and international expansion projects are also underway.
Disney's Strong Fiscal Performance and Strategic Growth InitiativesDisney reports significant investments in theme parks, strong Q2 results, and growth in experiences and streaming segments, highlighting successful feature films, sports viewership, and upcoming Direct-to-Consumer product launches.
Impact of Broadening Content Strategy on Disney+ Streaming BusinessThe integration of Hulu content and sports programming into Disney+ has positively affected user engagement and reduced churn. Plans include further integration of Disney+, Hulu, and ESPN for a comprehensive streaming experience, along with technology improvements and increased investment in local content outside the U.S. Long-term earnings growth guidance remains unchanged.
Disney's Strategic Expansion into Abu DhabiDisney has chosen Abu Dhabi's Yas Island for its new theme park, citing the region's large income-qualified population and strategic location. The decision was also influenced by Abu Dhabi's commitment to quality, innovation, and technology, as well as the existing infrastructure and cultural attractions. The move aims to cater to audiences previously unable to visit Disney's other locations due to distance and cost. Additionally, domestic park margins have seen improvement, not solely due to cruise mix but also from underlying domestic park operations.
Investment Inquiry in 2025On May 08, 2025, a question is posed by an individual from Moffat Nathanson, indicating an engagement in financial or investment-related discussion.
Disney's Exciting Theatrical Slate and Marvel's Strategic Shift for Long-Term ValueDisney showcases its upcoming theatrical lineup, emphasizing strong confidence in the slate's potential to generate long-term value and the strategic refocus on theatrical releases for Marvel, exemplified by 'Thunderbolts', to ensure quality over quantity.
Disney's Optimistic Outlook on Advertising Market and Abu Dhabi Theme Park Royalty DealDespite concerns about consumer impact, the advertising market remains healthy for Disney, with live sports advertising performing well and robust demand for advertising in the upfront season. Additionally, Disney clarifies its involvement in the Abu Dhabi theme park as a licensing arrangement, where it will receive royalties and maintain significant oversight to ensure the Disney experience standard.
ESPN's Transition to Digital: Integrating Sports Rights, Programming, and Interactive FeaturesThe company discusses the launch of a new digital service, emphasizing a tech-driven interface with sports rights and shoulder programming, distinguishing it from linear services. Subscribers of the linear service will automatically access the new offering, which will include additional features like betting and fantasy, aiming to preserve the multi-channel ecosystem while growing the direct-to-consumer (DTC) business. The strategy includes limiting the number of SKUs and ensuring a seamless experience for subscribers of Disney Plus, Hulu, and the ESPN DTC service, with plans to reveal the new service's name and pricing strategy soon.
Disney's Experiences Segment: Strong US Demand and Challenges in ChinaDespite unchanged full-year growth guidance, bookings for Walt Disney World show strong growth, with double-digit operating income growth expected. However, demand in China remains soft due to consumer spending constraints.
Disney's Cruise Expansion and International Visitation TrendsThe company discusses the success and learnings from the Disney Treasure cruise launch, emphasizing high customer satisfaction and plans for further expansion with new ships. They also address international visitation at domestic parks, noting it hasn't fully recovered to pre-Covid levels but is compensated by strong domestic attendance.
Global Expansion and Streaming Strategy for Theme Parks and Entertainment CompanyThe company discusses its recent Abu Dhabi park announcement, confirming it as their seventh location with no immediate plans for an eighth. They highlight significant investments in expanding existing parks worldwide and the cruise ship business to increase accessibility. On the streaming side, they anticipate operating leverage from revenue growth and cost reduction opportunities, including marketing efficiencies and content expansion, particularly internationally.
Disney's Expansion Plans and Focus on Guest ExperienceDisney outlines a $30 billion expansion plan for parks in Florida and California, emphasizing increased capacity without compromising guest experience. The company highlights record levels of return on invested capital in its experiences segment, driven by strategic investments and utilization of available land and intellectual property.
Concluding Remarks and Gratitude at May 08, 2025 Conference CallThe meeting is adjourned with expressions of gratitude towards the attendees, wishing them a good rest of the day, and instructing them to disconnect their lines.
要点回答
Q：What is the purpose of the conference call mentioned in the transcript?
A：The conference call is for discussing Walt Disney Company's second quarter 2025 Financial Results.
Q：Who are the key executives participating in the call?
A：Key executives participating in the call include Carlos Gomez, Executive Vice President of Finance and Head of Investor Relations, Bob Iger, Chief Executive Officer, and Hugh Johnston, Senior Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer.
Q：What significant announcement was made regarding a Disney theme park in the United Arab Emirates?
A：An agreement was announced to bring a Disney theme park to Abu Dhabi, called Disneyland Abu Dhabi, which will combine Disney storytelling with Emirati culture and will be overseen by Disney with the Morale Group of Abu Dhabi providing capital and operational oversight.
Q：What is the focus of the investments mentioned in the speech?
A：The focus of the investments mentioned in the speech is to enhance offerings in the Florida and California theme parks, which will create jobs and support the US economy.
Q：How did the experiences segment contribute to Disney's strong second quarter?
A：The experiences segment delivered strong results driven by the outstanding performance from domestic businesses, resulting in impressive returns on invested capital and making it a critical and important growth platform for Disney despite macroeconomic uncertainty and competition.
Q：What are some of the recent successes mentioned in the Walt Disney World and ESPN's entertainment business?
A：Recent successes include strong box office performance of Marvel Studios' films, upcoming theatrical releases, positive sports viewership trends, and the upcoming launch of a new Direct to Consumer product offering from ESPN.
Q：What is Disney's strategic priority mentioned for the remainder of the fiscal year?
A：Disney's strategic priority for the remainder of the fiscal year is to continue growing its streaming business, which remains a key and core growth platform for the company.
Q：Is the combination of Disney Plus and Hulu, along with sports content, positively impacting user engagement and churn?
A：Yes, the combination of Disney Plus and Hulu, along with the addition of sports content, is having a positive impact on user engagement and significantly reducing churn.
Q：What strategies are being considered to further bundle and integrate Disney's streaming services?
A：Disney is planning to continue the integration of Disney Plus and Hulu and is particularly focused on the smart bundling of ESPN direct to consumer for a fully integrated experience.
Q：How does Disney plan to enhance its technology for its streaming services?
A：Disney is working on improving the technology side of its streaming business, including paid sharing, personalization, and customization, and has plans for significant tech improvements in the near term.
Q：What is the rationale behind Disney's international content investment strategy?
A：Disney aims to invest more in local content outside the United States, recognizing the need to develop aggressively in targeted markets to reach audiences who find it costly to visit Disney's other locations.
Q：What factors contributed to the margin improvement at Disney's domestic parks?
A：The margin improvement at Disney's domestic parks is a combination of all of Disney's businesses, not just the impact from cruises, indicating improvements across various operations.
Q：Why was Abu Dhabi chosen as the location for Disney's new theme park, and what is the expected demographic impact?
A：Abu Dhabi was chosen due to its strategic location allowing access to hundreds of millions of income-qualified individuals who might find a trip to Disney's existing locations lengthy and expensive. The region's desire to engage with Disney was evident, and Abu Dhabi demonstrated an appreciation for quality, innovation, arts, creativity, and a commitment to new technology.
Q：What characteristics of Abu Dhabi and its partners made it the preferred location for Disney?
A：Abu Dhabi's characteristics, including a large, income-qualified population within reach, a significant number of tourists, and a demonstrated appreciation for Disney's values and products, made it the preferred location. Partnerships with Abu Dhabi also highlighted a mutual respect for history and legacy, and both entities shared a forward-thinking and innovative approach, which led to a quick decision on the suitability of the location.
Q：What are the upcoming films from Disney's slate mentioned in the speech?
A：The upcoming films from Disney's slate mentioned in the speech include 'Lilo and Stitch' on Memorial Day weekend, 'Pixar Leo' in June, 'Fantastic Four' in July, 'Tron Zootopia' and 'Avatar' to finish out the calendar year, and 'Avengers,' 'Mandalorian,' 'Toy Story,' and 'Moana' for the following year and a half.
Q：How does Disney plan to improve the quality of its Marvel films?
A：Disney plans to improve the quality of its Marvel films by consolidating creative efforts and focusing more on their films. This approach is believed to result in better quality and has been exemplified by the success of 'Thunderbolts,' which the speaker feels very good about.
Q：What type of arrangement is Disney entering with Abu Dhabi for a theme park?
A：Disney is entering a royalty arrangement with Abu Dhabi for a theme park, where they will get a royalty but not have ownership. Disney will retain ownership of its IP and license it to Abu Dhabi. Disney will be responsible for design and development, and significantly involved in the oversight of operations to ensure the Disney theme park experience meets the company's standards.
Q：How is the advertising market currently performing for Disney, and what sectors have high demand?
A：The advertising market is currently quite healthy for Disney. Live sports are performing extremely well, as evidenced by ESPN's advertising numbers for the quarter being up over script. There is robust demand for advertising, especially from restaurants and healthcare sectors. Although the direct-to-consumer (DTC) side is facing challenges due to new market entrants, there is still strong demand for Disney advertising.
Q：What does Disney expect regarding advertising growth and how does it plan to manage subscriber options for its content?
A：Disney now expects advertising growth to exceed what was indicated at the beginning of the year. The company plans to be somewhat agnostic from a subscriber perspective for the linear ESPN service and the DTC service to preserve the multi-channel ecosystem while growing its DTC business. Subscribers of linear ESPN will automatically get the ESPN DTC service, and the company is giving consumers the option to consume content through both services.
Q：How will the programming approach for Disney's flagship service differ from the linear ESPN service?
A：Disney's flagship service will not be called 'ESPN flagship,' and the pricing strategy will be revealed by Jimmy Pitaro. The linear service will not have the additional features that the DTC service will offer. Disney is providing consumers with the option to consume content through both services, and the DTC service will offer more features than the linear service.
Q：What strategy is Disney using to upsell its DTC service to users of its linear and streaming services?
A：Disney plans to give consumers of Disney Plus and Hulu a taste of live sports on their services to upsell them on the Disney DTC service, which is a priority. The DTC service will have many more features than the linear service and will be much simpler with a limited number of SKUs. Subscribers of all three services (Disney Plus, Hulu, and ESPN DTC) will have a seamless experience, with services embedded or integrated into the DTC service for a better consumer experience.
Q：What is the current outlook for the experiences business, specifically Walt Disney World?
A：The outlook for the experiences business, particularly Walt Disney World, is quite strong with bookings up significantly for the third and fourth quarters. Bookings for the third quarter are up in the high teens, and for the fourth quarter, they are up in the mid-teens, which is a substantial improvement from the previous guidance.
Q：What recent learnings from the cruise ship business are relevant for the upcoming launch of Disney's new ships?
A：Recent learnings from the cruise ship business include the high ratings received by the Disney Treasures and the fact that the new ships will build upon and improve the guest experience further than before. The expansion of Disney's cruise business is expected to be a growth driver over the next three to four years.
Q：How has international attendance at domestic parks been impacted and what is the expectation moving forward?
A：International attendance at domestic parks has not yet returned to pre-Covid levels but is still in the double digits. There has been a notable impact, but domestic attendance has been able to make up for it, and the expectation is for a similar pattern to continue, with international attendance remaining challenged.
Q：Are there plans for additional locations for the parks beyond the current ones mentioned?
A：While there is no immediate plan to build another park and expand to an eighth location, the company is continuing to invest in capital for the existing parks, expecting a stellar return on investment. There's a focus on investments in Florida and California, which are seen as a vote of confidence in those locations. However, the company is also expanding in every other location it operates.
Q：How does Disney consider the return on investment for expanding experiences, particularly with attendance and guest experience?
A：Disney considers the guest experience paramount and hence limits the number of people admitted to maintain that experience. Expansion involves adding capacity to allow more visitors without negatively impacting the guest experience. Disney has made specific announcements about new attractions at various locations. In terms of return on invested capital, Disney has been very impressive, achieving record levels and plans to allocate capital to areas where returns are anticipated to be stellar.
The Walt Disney Co.
Follow
