Earnings Report: Disney Hits $26 Billion as Theme Parks Stay Busy. Disney just shared its numbers for the first quarter. They made $25.98 billion. That is 5% more than they made at the same time last year. It was also better than what experts on Wall Street thought would happen.
The Parks are the big winner. Most of that growth came from the Disney Experiences group, led by Josh D’Amaro, who may be selected as the new CEO of The Walt Disney Company in the next few days. This includes the theme parks, hotels, and cruise ships.
- Profit: $3.31 billion (up 6%)
- Revenue: $10.01 billion (up 6%)
The U.S. parks did well. Revenue there grew 7% to $6.91 billion. International parks grew at the same rate but made less total money ($1.8 billion). Selling toys and shirts stayed about the same as last year.
Disney says the next few months might be a bit slower. Fewer people from other countries are visiting the U.S. parks right now. Plus, Disney is spending a lot of money to open a new “Frozen” land in Paris and launch another ship.
But for the whole year, they still expect their profits to go up by nearly 10%. Most of that growth will happen in the second half of 2026.
As the company had signaled before earnings, the quarter included the release of Zootopia 2, Avatar: Fire and Ash, Predator: Badlands and Tron: Ares , compared with just two releases in the prior-year quarter (Moana 2 and Mufasa: The Lion King). That boosted expenses, but the billion-dollar-plus box office for the Zootopia and Avatar sequels will bring benefits in future quarters.
Earnings Report: Disney Hits $26 Billion as Theme Parks Stay Busy
From The Walt Disney Company Earnings Report Q1-FY26:
Our Experiences segment had a solid start to the fiscal year, with quarterly revenue exceeding $10 billion for
the first time. Our efforts to turbocharge this segment are well underway, and we are excited about continued
progress on a robust pipeline of projects to support long-term growth.
We have expansion projects underway at every one of our theme parks, and next month, we will welcome
guests to the new World of Frozen at the completely reimagined Disney Adventure World at Disneyland
Paris. This milestone marks the beginning of a bold new era for Disneyland Paris, nearly doubling the size of
the second park and showcasing Disney’s unique ability to bring our stories to life in the physical world.
Additionally, we are continuously expanding storytelling in our parks, with new experiences featuring Bluey,
activations planned around the release of Toy Story 5, and a new mission featuring the Mandalorian and
Grogu inside Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run coming soon.
At Disney Cruise Line, we recently launched the Disney Destiny, which has received outstanding reviews
from guests since its maiden voyage on November 20. The Disney Adventure, our first ship, homeported in
Asia is on its way to Singapore for its maiden voyage on March 10, bringing immersive Disney storytelling
to more people globally than ever before. This will bring our fleet to a total of eight cruise ships, with
another five scheduled for launch beyond fiscal 2026.
Overall, this quarter reflects our focused execution and investment across each of our strategic priorities and
stands on the solid foundation we’ve built over the past three years, providing us with a path for long-term
growth.
