Disney Reports Its First Earnings Under Josh D’Amaro
On March 18th, 2026, The Walt Disney Company promoted Josh D’Amaro to CEO.
Less than two weeks later, Disney finished its second fiscal quarter of 2026.
Photo: Disney
So, a lot of what we’re about to discuss today counts more toward Bob Iger.
Still, Disney has reported its first quarterly earnings under Josh D’Amaro.
Photo: Josh D’Amaro on Instagram
How did your favorite company do? In a word, it was brilliant.
Disney in Transition
Photo: Josh D’Amaro on Instagram
For now, Disney appears to have enjoyed its first smooth succession in half a century.
We won’t know for sure until several years after the fact, but the early results are good.
Photo: Josh D’Amaro on Instagram
D’Amaro assumed his new role as the head of Disney, while Dana Walden stayed as well.
She’s now Disney’s President and Chief Creative Officer, the latter being a first for the company.
Photo: Josh D’Amaro on Instagram
The duo’s first few weeks at the top included price increases and melodrama.
Overall, the change has proven quite seamless, though, which is rare at Disney.
Photo: Josh D’Amaro on Instagram
What will ultimately determine the duo’s success is the money.
They inherited a company that carries $35.3 billion in long-term debt as of fiscal 2026.
Photo: Josh D’Amaro on Instagram
Disney recently took on more loans in a clever refinancing move, but the point remains.
In its current position, Disney lacks flexibility with its potential moves.
Photo: Josh D’Amaro in Instagram
In a way, Iger’s departure includes forced stagnancy for his successors.
Meanwhile, Disney’s performance in its quarterly earnings matters much more to investors.
Photo: Disney
Wall Street uses Disney as a bellwether for the overall state of the economy.
When families have more disposable income, they visit Disney theme parks.
Any sign of declining attendance will trigger shockwaves among investors.
Also, Disney will be judged overly harshly for circumstances beyond its control.
Disney
Disney has zero control over the cost of gas or groceries.
Thankfully, as CFO Hugh Johnston often states, its fans tend to be wealthier.
Photo: Disney
Thus far, this fact has protected Disney from the effects of sinking economic trends.
So, there was a lot riding on Disney’s quarterly earnings report for many, MANY people. How did Disney do?
Disney by the Numbers
Photo Credit: AP Photo/Richard Drew, File
As a reminder, Wall Street primarily grades success based on two factors.
The vital metrics are revenue and earnings per share, both of which Disney tends to top.
Historically, Disney has overachieved in the 2020s, which makes its static stock price all the more confusing.
Today is a day when the stock is all but certain to move a lot.
(AP Photo/Matt Dunham, file)
The pertinent question is, “Which way will it move?” And we rarely get that answer at first.
On multiple recent occasions, Disney stock has instantly moved one way.
Photo:NYpost.com
Then, as analysts comb through Disney’s financials, the stock’s movement flips.
For this quarter’s earnings, analysts had projected revenue of $24.78 billion and an EPS of $1.49.
Photo: History.com
So, there was a murmur of excitement when Disney announced its performance.
For the fiscal second quarter of 2026, Disney earned $25.17 billion with an EPS of $1.57.
Image: The Wall Street Journal
Again, D’Amaro really doesn’t deserve any credit or blame for this quarter’s results.
He wasn’t CEO until the final two weeks of the quarter.
Photo: Josh D’Amaro on Instagram
If anything, we should more accurately judge him based on Disney Experiences.
D’Amaro was still Chairman of that division while planning his new role as CEO.
Photo: Josh D’Amaro on LinkedIn
The theme parks segment has become Disney’s breadwinner as well as Wall Street’s economic barometer.
During the quarter, Disney Experiences earned $9.487 billion with operating income of $2.615 billion.
Photo: Josh D’Amaro on Instagram
These totals represent a five percent increase from 2025’s totals of $8.889 billion and $2.491 billion.
Disney’s Other Divisions
As a reminder, Disney recently reorganized to consolidate divisions.
Currently, the company consists of three cores: Entertainment, Experiences, and Sports.
Image: Christian Thompson/Disneyland Resort
Disney did this to prevent questions about its flagging Linear Networks.
That division inevitably suffered year-over-year revenue declines.
Disney
Since Wall Street obsessed over it so much, Disney altered its financials.
Now, the company has split the former Linear Networks division into parts of Entertainment and Sports.
Disney
As a part of that process, Sports has grown relatively predictable with its performance.
This division earned $4.534 billion a year ago, and that’s been the relative range recently
Savannah Bananas
For the most recent quarter, Sports managed $4.609 billion, a modest increase of two percent.
This division benefited from higher hockey ratings and near-historic football viewership.
ESPN
Even so, the reality is that Sports won’t ever be the breadwinner at Disney.
The price of sports licensing has grown so expensive that it’s nearly impossible to earn huge profits.
ESPN
For this past quarter, Sports netted $652 million. That’s a slight drop of five percent compared to last year’s $687 million.
This division is susceptible to the dates of its major sporting events. So, we shouldn’t read much into it.
On the Entertainment side, we knew this would be a massive quarter for Disney.
The potent combination of Zootopia 2 and Avatar: Fire and Ash were still performing well.
Photo: Disneyland
Overall, the Entertainment segment earned $11.715 billion with operating income of $1.336 billion. That’s a solid increase of ten percent.
Disney just started a massive summer box office campaign with The Devil Wears Prada 2.
Photo: Disney
So, the belief is that the Entertainment division should continue to excel in the current quarter.
MickeyBlog will spend the rest of the day evaluating theme park attendance.
Please continue reading to learn everything we do about Disney tourism in early 2026.
