The Walt Disney Company (DIS) Business Profile

What it does

The Walt Disney Company is a diversified worldwide entertainment company founded in 1923 and headquartered in Burbank. It operates three segments: Entertainment, Sports and Experiences.

Entertainment makes and distributes non-sports films and series, operates television networks, and sells streaming services. Its consumer services include Disney+ and Hulu, while its linear businesses include ABC, Disney, Freeform, FX and National Geographic channels. It also earns from theatrical releases, licensing content to television and video-on-demand services, home entertainment, music, stage plays, and post-production work.

Sports is centered on ESPN. It distributes sports through ESPN-branded television channels, ESPN on ABC and ESPN direct-to-consumer plans. ESPN Select offers live events and on-demand sports content, while ESPN Unlimited also includes ESPN’s branded television channels.

Experiences serves visitors and consumers through theme parks, resorts, cruises, vacation-club properties, guided travel, merchandise and consumer-product licensing. Its parks include Walt Disney World Resort, Disneyland Resort, Disneyland Paris, Hong Kong Disneyland Resort and Shanghai Disney Resort; it licenses intellectual property to the operator of Tokyo Disney Resort. The company also licenses its characters, trade names and other intellectual property to manufacturers, game developers, publishers and retailers.

The company had 231,000 employees in FY2025. Its businesses use films, series, characters and sports programming across streaming, television, theaters, parks, cruises and consumer products.

How it makes money

Disney earns recurring revenue from streaming subscriptions, advertising, television affiliate fees, park admissions, hotel stays, cruise vacations, merchandise licensing and consumer-product sales. It also earns revenue that varies with individual releases or events, including theatrical film rentals, content licensing, electronic sales and rentals, stage-play tickets, music, pay-per-view events, sponsorships and co-branding.

In Entertainment, Disney+ and Hulu generate most direct-to-consumer revenue from subscription fees and advertising. Linear Networks principally earn affiliate fees paid by multichannel video distributors for carrying programming and advertising sold against audiences. Content Sales/Licensing earns from film distribution in theaters, sales and licensing to TV and video-on-demand services, home entertainment, music, stage plays and post-production. Disney allocates some Experiences consumer-product licensing revenue to Entertainment as royalties on intellectual property created there.

Sports earns affiliate and subscription fees, advertising, pay-per-view fees, sublicensing of sports rights, fees for ESPN programming on ABC, and ESPN-brand licensing. Experiences earns admission tickets, premium attraction access, room nights, cruise and other vacations, vacation-club sales and rentals, food, beverage and merchandise sales, consumer-product royalties, retail sales, sponsorships, rents and Tokyo Disney Resort royalties.

FY2025 revenue was $94.4 billion; in fiscal Q3 2026, total company revenue growth was 7% and total segment operating income rose 21%.

Content costs are generally capitalized and then allocated across Entertainment businesses using estimated relative value of the distribution windows. In fiscal 2025, service revenue was $84.6 billion and product revenue was $9.8 billion.

Customers and how it sells

Disney sells directly to households that subscribe to Disney+, Hulu or ESPN services; visit parks and resorts; take cruises or guided vacations; buy merchandise; or attend theatrical, live-stage and other entertainment events. It also sells to advertisers, multichannel video programming distributors, affiliated television stations, theaters, television and video-on-demand services, retailers, licensees and corporate sponsors.

Disney+ had approximately 132 million paid subscribers and Hulu approximately 64 million as of September 27, 2025. Its ABC Network distributes programming to approximately 245 local affiliated stations and its owned stations collectively reach almost 100% of U.S. television households. The company’s eight owned television stations reach approximately 20% of U.S. television households.

The business is international. Disney operates approximately 180 general-entertainment and family channels outside the U.S., in approximately 30 languages and 170 countries or territories, plus approximately 45 ESPN-branded sports channels outside the U.S. in four languages and approximately 110 countries or territories. Experiences operations span the U.S., France, Hong Kong and Shanghai, while Tokyo Disney Resort is operated by a third party under an intellectual-property license.

The company distributes electronic home-entertainment formats through e-tailers including Apple and Amazon, and through distributors including Comcast and DirecTV. Management reported domestic tourist and local-resident growth at domestic parks, while noting weaker consumers at Shanghai and Hong Kong parks continuing into fiscal Q4.

Suppliers and costs

Disney’s cost base includes programming and production, sports rights, labor, marketing, technology, distribution, park infrastructure, merchandise costs, depreciation, fuel, utilities, insurance and transportation. Entertainment programming costs include amortization of capitalized production and licensed-programming costs, live-programming production, participations, residuals and fees paid to ESPN for sports content. Sports costs include amortization of licensed sports rights and live-sports production.

The company produces content under banners including Lucasfilm, Marvel, Pixar, FX Productions and Walt Disney Pictures, commissions work from third-party studios, and licenses some programming rights. It competes for creative and performing talent, story properties, sports rights, production facilities and exhibition outlets. It also depends on third-party suppliers for products and services essential to several businesses.

Experiences expenses include operating labor, repairs and maintenance, technology, utilities and fuel, property taxes, insurance, transportation, food and merchandise costs. Capital spending has principally gone toward park and resort expansion, attractions, cruise ships, capital improvements and systems infrastructure. Fiscal 2025 cost of services was $52.7 billion, cost of products was $6.1 billion, selling, general, administrative and other costs were $16.5 billion, and depreciation and amortization was $5.3 billion.

Competitive position

Disney competes for viewers, subscribers, advertising, carriage, content, sports rights, talent, consumer attention, park guests and consumer-product licensees. Netflix competes directly for streaming subscribers and also licenses Disney content under a new licensing deal. Comcast and DirecTV distribute Disney’s electronic home-entertainment formats; Comcast also operates in a media landscape that Disney identifies as changing through restructuring. Fox’s acquisition of Roku was identified by the company as an industry development that does not change Disney’s strategic path. Warner Bros. Discovery participates with Disney in the Disney+, Hulu and HBO Max bundle. Sony Pictures Entertainment holds the rights to produce and distribute Spider-Man films.

Disney’s linear networks compete for carriage with other programming providers and negotiate multi-year agreements with distributors. Its parks, resorts and cruises compete with theme parks, lodging, tourism, recreation and other entertainment activities. Advertising competes with television, video-on-demand, search, marketplaces, social media, other digital content, newspapers, magazines, radio and billboards.

Our reading: Disney’s owned intellectual property is a strong moat because it can be used in films, streaming, retail and physical experiences; this linkage is shown by Toy Story’s use across these formats. [item1, call_prepared]

Our reading: Direct consumer relationships and bundled services are a developing moat, supported by lower churn in the Disney+, Hulu and HBO Max bundle, but streaming advertising faces pricing pressure from expanding supply. [call_prepared]

Our reading: ESPN’s sports rights and live-event audiences provide a meaningful moat in sports, while the cost and renewal risk of sports rights limits its durability. [item1, call_prepared]

Growth opportunities

Disney’s growth plans center on expanding Experiences capacity, building its streaming ecosystem, increasing direct relationships with consumers, using intellectual property across businesses and applying technology to production, advertising and guest experiences.

The company is adding attractions at its sites, including Villains Land in Orlando and an Avengers Campus expansion in Anaheim, and is pursuing cruise-ship expansion. It expects fiscal 2026 Experiences operating-income growth at the high end of its previously stated high-single-digit range, excluding the 53rd week. In fiscal Q3 2026, global guest count grew 4% year over year and domestic park attendance grew 3%; cruise stateroom capacity increased approximately 50% year over year.

For streaming, Disney is combining Disney+ and Hulu functions, enabling Hulu subscribers to link profiles and viewing histories in Disney+. The company intends to add live TV and add-ons, use bundles and third-party add-ons, and introduce elements of an expanded Disney+ ecosystem beginning in spring 2027. It expects Disney+ to continue building international scale through regional relationships and local content. It delivered a 13% SVOD operating margin in fiscal Q3 and expects double-digit margins in fiscal 2026 excluding the 53rd-week impact.

The company is using artificial intelligence in production, personalization, advertising, ESPN workflows, parks and cruise planning. It also plans to grow content spending over time, particularly internationally.

Structural risks

• Economic conditions and inflation can reduce park attendance and guest spending, streaming and cable subscriptions, advertising purchases and licensing fees, while increasing labor, goods, services and borrowing costs.

• Changes in technology and consumer consumption are reducing ratings and subscribers for traditional broadcast and cable distribution. These shifts can lower linear-network advertising and affiliate revenue, while direct-to-consumer investment may not produce long-term profitability comparable with earlier business models.

• Consumer tastes are unpredictable. Films, series, parks, cruises, resorts and consumer products require substantial investment before their acceptance is known; theater-going remains below pre-pandemic levels.

• Disney faces competition for viewers, subscribers, advertising, carriage, content, sports rights, talent, production facilities, park guests and consumer-product licensing. Competition can raise programming and labor costs and constrain advertising rates, subscription fees, admissions and room rates.

• Long-term programming-rights and distribution contracts may be renewed only on less favorable terms, may lead to service blackouts, or may not be renewed. Sports-rights costs can rise without assurance that related revenue will exceed rights and production costs.

• Travel, tourism and operations can be disrupted by health events, weather, natural disasters, political or military developments, cyber incidents, supply-chain disruption and energy-cost changes. Currency movements also affect international revenue, costs and demand for domestic parks and resorts.

Bottom line

Our reading

Our reading: Disney is a multi-format entertainment business whose revenue combines recurring subscriptions, affiliate fees, advertising and licensing with visitor spending at parks, resorts and cruises. Its operating model depends on repeatedly using intellectual property across content, streaming, physical experiences and consumer products. [item1, item7, call_prepared]

Our reading: The main tensions are the shift away from linear television, competitive and pricing pressure in streaming advertising, volatile content and sports-rights economics, and exposure of Experiences to travel and consumer conditions. [item1, item1a, call_prepared]