BURBANK, Calif. – Walt Disney Co. reported fiscal third-quarter results Wednesday that topped Wall Street estimates, as its theme parks business approached $10 billion in quarterly revenue for the first time and its combined streaming service recorded a $712 million profit, according to TheWrap. The numbers confirmed that Disney (DIS) is running both engines of its post-pandemic restructuring at the same time.
Disney Experiences, the division that houses the company’s domestic and international theme parks, generated $9.968 billion in revenue during the quarter ended June 28, a 10 percent increase from $9.086 billion in the same period a year earlier, per the company’s investor report. Operating income for the segment reached $3.017 billion, up 20 percent year-over-year, though approximately $100 million from a tariff refund accounted for roughly four percentage points of that gain. Organic Parks income growth ran at closer to 16 percent. A BlogMickey breakdown of the segment data provided the full picture.
Domestic parks drove the bulk of the Experiences gain, contributing $7.116 billion in revenue, up 11 percent, with operating income of $2.088 billion, a 27 percent improvement. International parks posted $1.787 billion in revenue, a 6 percent gain, but operating income fell 13 percent to $369 million. Global guest attendance grew 4 percent, with domestic attendance up 3 percent and per-capita spending at U.S. parks rising 4 percent.
The streaming division provided the sharper surprise. Disney+ and Hulu’s combined profit reached $712 million, with Variety reporting that the figure more than doubled compared to the year-earlier quarter. Disney absorbed years of streaming losses during the content arms race of 2020 through 2023 before pivoting to profitability-first operations in 2024 under Chief Executive Bob Iger. That bet is now yielding cash.
Toy Story 5’s theatrical run provided a third lever in the quarter. The Pixar sequel had crossed $800 million worldwide by the end of its third weekend in theaters as of late July, and both the WSJ and Deadline attributed the Studios segment’s Q3 result in part to the film’s continued run. Disney did not release updated global totals alongside the earnings announcement.
The company also disclosed that it is exiting its stake in A+E Networks, the cable joint venture with Hearst that houses History, Lifetime, and A&E, according to Yahoo Finance. The exit removes one of the last major legacy cable assets from Disney’s portfolio, completing the retreat from linear television that Iger has been executing in stages since returning to the company.
On the structural side, Variety reported that Disney Consumer Products is being folded into the Entertainment division beginning in fiscal 2027. The segment, which manages licensing, retail, and merchandise tied to Disney and Pixar intellectual property, posted $1.065 billion in Q3 revenue, up 7 percent, with operating income of $560 million, a 26 percent improvement. Consolidating the business under Entertainment is intended to close the distance between content creation and merchandise strategy across the company’s studios.
That shift comes alongside the cost reductions Disney has been executing through the year. In July, the company announced hundreds of Pixar and ESPN layoffs in its third round of reductions in 2026. The Parks division has meanwhile committed capital to new attractions and a cruise ship expansion fleet. The two sides of the business are at different stages of their investment cycles even as both posted improved numbers Wednesday.
The competitive context for the streaming result matters as much as the figure itself. Netflix’s Q2 revenue miss in July sent that company’s stock to a 52-week low, raising questions about whether the streaming model can sustain growth at scale. Disney’s $712 million combined streaming profit offers evidence that a second major platform has arrived at sustained profitability, though subscriber counts and growth trajectory were not confirmed from accessible sources in reports available at publication.
What the earnings call yielded in terms of guidance, subscriber data, or Iger’s read on the next quarter was not available at publication time. What the Q3 numbers alone established is that Disney’s most expensive bet of the Iger era has passed its first real test: theme parks and streaming generating meaningful cash at the same time. The tariff refund inflated the Parks headline, and the subscriber story remains incomplete. But both engines are running.
