Disney
reported today its financial earnings for its second fiscal quarter ended March 31, 2018, and although all four of the company's major segments (Media Networks, Parks and Resorts, Studio Entertainment, and Consumer Products & Interactive Media) posted quarterly growth, it was the Studio Entertainment division that saw the largest increase in revenue.
Disney's Studio Entertainment revenues for the quarter increased 21 percent from the year-ago quarter to $2.5 billion, while segment operating income increased 29 percent to $847 million. Disney attributed the operating income growth to increases in theatrical, home entertainment and TV/SVOD distribution results, which were partially offset by higher film cost impairments.
More specifically, the increase in distribution results was due to the success of
Black Panther. Although there was no comparable Marvel title in the prior-year quarter,
Black Panther has broken many major movie landmarks, becoming the third highest-grossing film of all time in the United States with $694.4 million at the domestic box office.
Black Panther brought in a whopping $1.3 billion at the global box office, making it the 9th biggest movie ever worldwide. The numbers are looking even better for Disney's studio segment when you consider that
Avengers: Infinity War is on track for an even bigger box office haul.
“Our ability to create extraordinary content like Black Panther and Avengers: Infinity War and leverage it across all business units, the unique value proposition we’re creating for consumers with our Direct-To-Consumer platforms, and our recent reorganization strengthen our confidence that we are very well positioned for future growth,” Disney CEO Bob Iger said in a statement.
In addition to Disney's performance at the box office, the company also saw growth in the home entertainment category, driven by "higher average net effective pricing and an increase in unit sales, both of which reflected the successful release of Star Wars: The Last Jedi." Disney benefited from the DVD/Blu-ray release of
The Last Jedi in the current quarter versus the DVD/Blu-ray release of
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story in the prior-year third quarter.
Thor: Ragnarok and
Coco also boosted the current quarter compared to
Moana and
Doctor Strange in the prior-year quarter.
While Disney's studio entertainment division saw the biggest quarterly increase, the company's Media Networks segment actually brought in the most revenue ($6.1 billion, +3%), followed by its Parks and Resorts segment ($4.9 billion, +13%).