Coffee With Greta: Disney Pops
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NASDAQ Futures: +156 (+1.2%)
Good morning friends!
Futures are higher with Disney shares popping after strong earnings.
Let’s get right to it!
Disney Beats Fiscal Q1 Expectations, Unveils Restructuring
Walt Disney (DIS) shares are rallying 6.1% ahead of the open after beating fiscal Q1 expectations.
Here’s how the entertainment giant’s results compared to analysts’ estimates:
- Adjusted EPS: $0.99 vs $0.78 expected
- Revenue: $23.51 billion vs $23.37 billion expected
- Disney+ Subscriptions: 161.8 million vs 161.1 million expected
This is the first earnings report released by Disney since CEO Bob Iger resumed his executive role.
In a statement, Iger said, “We believe the work we are doing to reshape our company around creativity, while reducing expenses, will lead to sustained growth and profitability for our streaming business, better position us to weather future disruption and global economic challenges, and deliver value for our shareholders.”
Disney also announced plans to reorganize into three segments and cut thousands of jobs.
Those divisions will be:
- Disney Entertainment
- ESPN
- Parks, Experiences, and Products Unit
The company is also laying off 7,000 employees, representing about 3% of its workforce.
Affirm Drops On Earnings Miss, Company Announces Layoffs
Affirm (AFRM) shares are tumbling 15.4% in premarket trade after missing fiscal Q2 earnings on the top and bottom line.
Here’s how the buy now, pay later company’s results compared to analysts’ expectations:
- Loss per share: $1.10 vs $0.95 expected
- Revenue: $400 million vs $416 million expected
The CEO said, “A key operational misstep contributing to these results is that we began increasing prices for our merchants and consumers later in the year than we should have, and this process has taken us longer than we anticipated.”
Affirm also announced it is cutting 19% of its workforce, effective immediately.
The company expects $360 million to $380 million in fiscal Q3 revenue vs $418 million expected.
For the full year, Affirm forecast $1.475 billion to $1.550 billion in revenue, down from its previous outlook for $1.6 billion to $1.675 billion.
Price Hikes Boost PepsiCo Earnings
PepsiCo (PEP) shares are up 1.5% ahead of the open after beating Q4 expectations on the top and bottom line.
Here’s how the beverage maker’s results compared to analysts’ estimates:
- Adjusted EPS: $1.67 vs $1.65 expected
- Revenue: $28 billion vs $26.84 billion expected
That beat came even as sales volume fell but consumers paid higher prices for PepsiCo snacks and drinks.
Volume dropped 7% at Quaker Foods North America and fell 2% at its North American beverage division.
PepsiCo expects 8% growth in earnings this year vs analysts’ expectations for 7.3% growth.
The company also announced a 10% increase to its annual dividend and plans to repurchase $1 billion worth of shares this year.
Weekly Jobless Claims Rise More Than Expected
Weekly jobless claims rose more than expected in early February.
The Labor Department reported 196,000 Americans filed initial claims for unemployment benefits last week.
That was a 13,000 person increase from the week before and higher than 190,000 expected.
Continuing claims also rose by 38,000 to 1.69 million in the week ending January 28.
In Case You Missed It
- Alphabet (GOOGL) shares tumbled 7.7% on Wednesday after holding an event to showcase its new artificial intelligence chatbot called Bard. Google said it will begin rolling out the new technology in the coming weeks. The event also highlighted new AI improvements in other Google products like Maps and Lens. The reveal came one day after Microsoft (MSFT) hosted a similar AI event to unveil new updates to its Bing search engine.