Walt Disney Co. reported a 26% jump in revenue Wednesday and more new customers than expected added to its streaming service, but it lowered the bar for anticipated future growth at its Disney+ streaming service.
Chief Financial Officer Christine McCarthy on the company’s call with analysts ratcheted down its forecast for Disney+, saying it now expects to sign up between 135 million and 165 million subscribers to its core Disney+ service, and up to 80 million to its lower-cost Asian streaming service, Disney+ Hotstar, for a total range of 215 million to 245 million subscribers by September 2024.
Just a few months ago, Disney Chief Executive Bob Chapek said the company’s previous target of 230 million to 260 million total Disney+ subscribers, set in December 2020, was “very achievable.”
In the three-month period ended July 2, Disney+ gained 14.4 million new subscribers, nearly all of them from outside North America. Analysts were expecting 10 million additions, according to FactSet. The company also announced price increases to its streaming products in the U.S.
Disney’s results this quarter reflect the difficulties it and rivals, such as Netflix, face in attracting new customers domestically, where streaming options abound and many households use one or more services. Plus, in an increasingly difficult economic environment, some households are rethinking spending on in-home entertainment, industry analysts have said.
Disney shares rose more than 6% in after-hours trading to about $120.
Disney+ currently has 152.1 million subscribers. The company has 221.1 million customers across all of its streaming offerings, including ESPN+ and Hulu, bringing Disney’s total just ahead of Netflix in total customers. Netflix last month reported it had 220.67 million subscribers.
Overall for the third quarter, the world’s largest entertainment company reported profits of $1.41 billion, or 77 cents a share, up from $918 million, or 50 cents a share, in the year-ago period. Revenue increased to $21.5 billion, above the average analyst estimate of $20.99 billion on FactSet.
Sales at the parks, experiences and products division—which includes Disneyland, Walt Disney World and four resorts in Europe and Asia and has historically been Disney’s most profitable segment—reached $7.4 billion for the quarter, a record and up 70% from a year earlier. The division posted profits of $2.2 billion for the quarter, up from $356 million a year ago.
Mr. Chapek attributed the company’s strong results to the performance at its domestic theme parks, big increases in live-sports viewership and the subscriber growth at its streaming services.
Of the 14.4 million subscribers added to the service, just 100,000 came from the U.S. and Canada, a sign that the streaming service may be reaching a saturation point in North America. Netflix lost 1.3 million subscribers in the U.S. and Canada and only added net new customers in the Asia-Pacific region.
Over the past year, Mr. Chapek and other top Disney executives have signaled an increased focus on international markets for growing its streaming business. Disney is spending heavily to produce hundreds of local-language television shows in countries such as India, and over the summer, Disney+ launched in 53 new countries and territories, mainly concentrated in Eastern Europe, the Middle East and North Africa.
Pricing for a Disney+ subscription in many of these new markets runs well below the $7.99 a month that American customers pay. Still, Disney+’s average monthly revenue per paid subscriber—a key metric in streaming businesses—stood at $6.27 in North America, compared with $6.29 internationally, excluding Asia’s more inexpensive Disney+ Hotstar service.
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Disney+ Hotstar, the service used by Disney’s 58.4 million subscribers in India, produces just $1.20 per month per user. In June, Disney was outbid for streaming rights to air Indian Premier League cricket matches, a major draw for the Hotstar service, which many analysts and former Disney executives predict will result in millions of canceled accounts over the next year.
Overall, Disney’s direct-to-consumer segment, which includes video streaming, lost $1.1 billion in the third quarter, widening from a loss of $293 million a year earlier. Since Disney+ launched in late 2019, the segment has lost more than $7 billion.
Also Wednesday, Disney gave a launch date of Dec. 8 and outlined pricing information for its previously announced ad-supported tier of Disney+ in the U.S., a new product designed to expand the reach of the company’s streaming business.
The price of the ad-free standalone Disney+ service will rise from its current level of $7.99 a month in the U.S. to $10.99 a month, or $109.99 a year. The new, basic Disney+ service with ads, will cost $7.99 a month.
The premium Disney streaming bundle, which includes ad-free versions of Disney+ and Hulu, as well as a version of sports-focused ESPN+ with ads, will remain at its current price of $19.99 a month in the U.S., while a bundle that includes all three services, only with ads on Hulu, will rise in price by $1 a month, to $14.99.
—Sarah Krouse contributed to this article.
Corrections & Amplifications
Disney+ launched in 53 new countries and territories over the summer. An earlier version of this article incorrectly said it launched in 54. (Corrected on Aug. 10)
Write to Robbie Whelan at robbie.whelan@wsj.com
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