The Walt Disney Company — 2026Q3 earnings
reported 2026-08-05
EPS $2.06 vs $1.85 est — beat
next session +2.9% (close 2026-08-05 → 2026-08-06)
Source
Press release ↗Summary
A clean beat-and-reiterate: revenue rose 7% to $25.2 billion, adjusted EPS grew 28% to $2.06, and total segment operating income rose 21%, ahead of guidance — with Experiences the engine (OI up 20%, though roughly four points came from a one-time tariff refund) and Sports the soft spot, undershooting its own guide on NBA Playoffs sweeps and a carriage dispute. Management reiterated ~12% FY26 adjusted-EPS growth ex-53rd week and raised the buyback target to at least $9 billion. On the call, Josh D'Amaro — five months in — framed the quarter as proof of one-company execution and leaned into AI as an enterprise-wide, artist-led efficiency lever, while Hugh Johnston paired the $9 billion FY26 capex program behind Experiences with expanded buybacks and candidly flagged that growing streaming ad supply is pressuring SVOD ad pricing even as the sports ad market stays healthy.
Earnings call
Review
From the report
A clean beat-and-reiterate quarter for fiscal Q3 2026 (ended June 27, 2026): revenue rose 7% to $25.2B, adjusted EPS grew 28% to $2.06, and total segment operating income rose 21%, ahead of Disney's own guidance. Experiences was the engine (OI +20%, though roughly four points came from a one-time tariff refund) while Sports undershot its own guide on NBA Playoffs sweeps and a carriage dispute. Disney reiterated ~12% FY26 adjusted-EPS growth (ex-53rd week) and raised its buyback target to at least $9B.
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Headline growth was strong: revenue rose 7% to $25.2 billion and income before income taxes rose 14% to $3.6 billion versus Q3 fiscal 2025. show quote
“Revenues increased 7% for the third quarter to $25.2 billion from $23.7 billion in Q3 fiscal 2025. Income before income taxes increased 14% to $3.6 billion from $3.2 billion in Q3 fiscal 2025.”
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GAAP diluted EPS fell to $1.51 from $2.92 against a prior-year comparison, while adjusted EPS increased to $2.06 from $1.61 — the cleaner read on underlying earnings. show quote
“Diluted earnings per share (EPS) decreased to $1.51 from $2.92 in Q3 fiscal 2025. Adjusted EPS (1) increased to $2.06 from $1.61 in Q3 fiscal 2025.”
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Capital return stepped up: Disney is now targeting at least $9 billion of share repurchases in fiscal 2026. show quote
“We are now targeting at least $9 billion in share repurchases in fiscal 2026.”
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Experiences drove the quarter with 20% segment operating income growth, but a tariff refund accounted for roughly four points of that growth — the underlying rate is lower than the headline. show quote
“Disney Experiences segment operating income growth was 20%, with the tariff refund representing roughly four points of that growth.”
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Sports was the soft spot: segment operating income fell 17%, steeper than Disney's own guidance of approximately 14%, on four-game NBA Playoffs sweeps and a network carriage dispute. show quote
“Our Sports segment operating income decline of 17% versus the prior-year quarter was modestly steeper than our prior guidance of approximately 14%. Contributing to the lower-than-expected operating income were four-game sweeps in early rounds of the NBA Playoffs and the impact of a network carriage dispute.”
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From the call
On his first-year footing (five months in), CEO Josh D'Amaro framed Q3 as proof of one-company execution — a guidance beat led by record Experiences results — and leaned into AI as an enterprise-wide, artist-led efficiency and creativity lever plus a new TikTok-to-Disney+ creator pipeline. CFO Hugh Johnston paired growth investment ($9B FY26 capex behind Experiences) with expanded buybacks, while candidly flagging that streaming ad supply is pressuring SVOD ad pricing even as the sports ad market stays healthy.
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CEO Josh D'Amaro opened by framing the quarter as a beat — total segment operating income up 21% and ahead of prior guidance on 7% revenue growth, with record fiscal Q3 Experiences results. show quote
“Total segment operating income came in ahead of our prior guidance, up 21%, with total company revenue growth of 7%. And Disney Experiences delivered record fiscal Q3 revenue and segment OI.”
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D'Amaro positioned AI as an enterprise-wide strategic tool — for efficiency, speed, and creativity — while insisting the creative process stays human-centered and artist-driven. show quote
“We're using AI strategically across not only our studios, but across the whole enterprise. And we're doing that to gain efficiency, to be faster, to accelerate velocity, and unleash creativity inside of Disney.”
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CFO Hugh Johnston tied the Experiences acceleration to the $9 billion fiscal 2026 capex program, with investment back into the business as capital-allocation priority number one. show quote
“We're turbo charging the Experiences growth with our $9 billion of fiscal '26 CapEx, and you can see the results on that in terms of the accelerated growth we're seeing in that business.”
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Johnston flagged a split ad market: healthy in sports heading into fall, but competitive in streaming, where growing supply is pressuring SVOD ad pricing — visible in this quarter's SVOD ad sales growth rate. show quote
“Now, overall, the current tone I would have is to characterize the market as healthy in sports, which obviously plays to our strength heading into the fall, but at the same time, competitive in streaming, especially given the growth of supply in the marketplace. That supply, of course, is creating some pricing pressure for us and for others, which you saw in our SVOD ad sales growth rate this quarter.”
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as of 2026-08-10