The US entertainment company Walt Disney made remarkable progress in its streaming business in the second quarter of 2024, exceeding analysts' expectations.

Disney has generated its first operating profit in the streaming segment, which includes the Disney+ service, in the past quarter, with $47 million. In the same quarter of the previous year, the segment recorded a loss of $512 million. This positive development is a result of strict cost-cutting measures under the leadership of CEO Bob Iger. This includes, among other things, the reduction of production costs for series and films from the popular "Star Wars" and Marvel universes.

Disney's revenue rose by four percent to $23.16 billion in the quarter, while analysts had expected around $23 billion on average. Net profit amounted to $2.6 billion, after a loss of $460 million was recorded in the same period last year.

The operating profit in the entertainment business overall rose to $1.2 billion, three times higher than in the same quarter of the previous year. This increase was also supported by the success of the animated film "Inside Out 2," which has so far grossed $1.56 billion. In contrast, the division with theme parks and cruise ships saw a three percent decline in operating profit to $2.22 billion. Disney stated that consumers were less willing to spend towards the end of the quarter.

Disney+ ended the quarter with 118.3 million customer households, an increase of one percent compared to the previous quarter. Starting in September, Disney plans to take stronger action against sharing login information to encourage more users to get their own subscriptions.

Additionally, it has become known that Disney has secured an eight percent stake in the gaming company Epic Games with an investment of 1.5 billion dollars. Furthermore, the complete takeover of the American streaming service Hulu could become up to 5 billion dollars more expensive than the previously guaranteed minimum amount of 27.5 billion dollars, depending on the assessment of an appraiser.

The Disney stock reacted negatively to the quarterly results and lost 4.47 percent in NYSE trading, but closed at 85.95 USD.