NEW YORK, Aug 13 — Walt Disney Co earnings topped Wall Street forecasts for the most recent quarter as its streaming services picked up new customers and the pandemic-hit theme parks unit recorded a profit.

Shares of the entertainment company rose 5 per cent in after-hours trading on Thursday to US$185.53. Before the earnings report, shares were roughly flat from the start of the year.

Disney Chief Financial Officer Christine McCarthy said that looking forward, theme park reservations at both US parks remain strong, even as Covid cases surge.

Florida, where the flagship Walt Disney World is located, is the epicenter of the latest US outbreak, posting record cases and hospitalizations in recent days.

"We are still bullish about our parks business going forward,” said CEO Bob Chapek on a call with analysts.

For April through July 3, Disney posted earnings per share of 80 cents, excluding certain items. Wall Street had expected 55 cents, according to the average projection of analysts surveyed by Refinitiv.

Disney has staked its future on building streaming services to compete with Netflix Inc in the crowded market for online entertainment.

Disney+, Hulu and ESPN+ — the company’s three online subscription offerings — gained close to 15 million new subscribers to total nearly 174 million. Disney+ had 116 million paying customers at the end of the quarter, just ahead of the 115.2 million consensus of analysts surveyed by FactSet.

"Disney is placing huge bets on streaming and is benefiting from low-hanging fruits by mirroring Netflix’s strategy,” PP Foresight analyst Paolo Pescatore said. "It is apparent that Disney+ is now an indispensable video streaming service alongside Netflix.”

During the quarter, Disney+ featured Loki, a series about the shape-shifting Marvel villain, and offered Emma Stone movie"Cruella on the same day it hit theaters.

Disney’s theme parks welcomed more visitors as pandemic restrictions eased. Theme park revenue rose for the first time in five quarters, hitting US$4.34 billion (RM18.4 billion).

Net income for division reached US$356 million, compared with a loss of nearly US$1.9 billion a year earlier when many Disney parks were closed.

At the media and entertainment distribution unit, operating income fell 32 per cent from the prior year, to US$2.0 billion, as programming costs rose.

The direct-to-consumer division, which includes Disney+, reported a loss of US$293 million as it invested in programming and other costs. That compared to a loss of US$624 million a year earlier.

The company’s overall revenue rose 45 per cent to US$17.02 billion in the third quarter, topping analysts’ estimate of US$16.76 billion, according to IBES data from Refinitiv.

Net income from continuing operations was US$923 million, or 50 cents per share, compared with a loss of US$4.72 billion, or US$2.61 per share, a year earlier. — Reuters