Did D’Amaro Impress Wall Street with His First Try?
Today was the big day for the new CEO of The Walt Disney Company.
Josh D’Amaro succeeded Bob Iger in mid-March, a couple of weeks before the fiscal quarter ended.
Photo: Disney
While D’Amaro has since headed an earnings report and call, it wasn’t his.
He was like an interim coach acquiring the record of his predecessor.
Photo: Disney
This time is different. D’Amaro led Disney for the entire fiscal third quarter.
So, did D’Amaro impress Wall Street with his first try? Let’s take a look…
The Expectations
Wall Street feels the same way about Disney that I do about Christopher Nolan movies. I know that some people like them, and I do on occasion. Most of the time, I just don’t care, though.
From Wall Street’s perspective, Disney has been “dead money” for more than a decade.
Photo: The Walt Disney Company
The stock hovers in the same general range each year, albeit with quite a bit of movement.
$DIS hasn’t closed over $100 since late June, although it’s been close. For a stock that started 2026 at $111.85, that’s just not good enough for investors.
Photo: Disney
While Iger comported himself well with his dramatic return, he still couldn’t change this reality.
Wall Street simply doesn’t perceive Disney as worth serious investment right now.
Photo: Getty
So, the task falls on D’Amaro to alter that perception now and indefinitely.
He needed his first earnings report to signal a better tomorrow at Disney.
Photo: Mark Abramson for The New York Times
For their part, most Wall Street analysts have listed Disney as “overweight.”
That’s a term corporations welcome, as it signals that they’re currently underpriced.
Photo: Disney
JPMorgan recently suggested that investors should put a $139 price target on $DIS.
That sounds good, right? A prestigious investment firm believes Disney will outperform most stocks. Well, here’s an investment article on Yahoo! that dismisses this estimate as a bad thing.
Photo: Disney
Wall Street does this sort of thing all the time, and it’s maddening to watch.
Again, the onus falls on D’Amaro to disrupt such thinking and sell his company to investors.
Photo: Josh D’Amaro on Instagram
For this current report, those analysts had projected Disney to earn 25.4 billion with earnings per share of $1.86.
The Reality
Remarkably, Wall Street has viewed both those totals pessimistically.
In particular, the EPS estimate would reflect a 17.4 percent year-over-year drop.
Photo: Disney
Disney’s success in the fiscal third quarter of 2025 hurts the comparison now.
Yes, I know it’s ludicrous, but that’s how Wall Street investors think.
Photo: Disney
They simply want to generate stock movement and couldn’t care less whether it’s up or down.
D’Amaro faced an uphill battle immediately with his first quarterly earnings report.
Photo: Disney
Even worse, Comcast just reported its quarterly earnings ten days ago.
During its earnings call, the corporate owner of Universal Studios alarmed investors.
Universal Orlando
Comcast revealed lackluster attendance at Universal Orlando Resort.
The executives cited a sluggish economy as a factor in fewer admissions this past quarter.
Universal Orlando Resort
This information spooked investors about Disney, whose bread and butter is Disney Experiences.
The theme parks division appeared likely to suffer the same fate as its closest competitor…but it didn’t! More about that in a second.
Cinderella Castle
Well, the numbers are in, and Disney has reported quarterly revenue of $25.25 billion.
Disney slightly missed on Wall Street’s expectations on that side, but the stock immediately increased anyway. Here’s why.
Monorail in EPCOT
In terms of earnings per share, Disney reported $2.06, a solid hit over the $1.86 EPS estimate.
Disney has previously indicated operating income of $5.3 billion for this quarter, but the company increased its annual guidance after this result.
Tree of Life
What the company actually managed was $5.555 billion, which should provide Disney with some immediate relief and a bit of runway.
As a rule, Disney consistently hits on EPS and is generally pretty good about revenue, too.
Tower of Terror
So, D’Amaro should breathe easier over these earnings.
Now, let’s talk specifics from the company’s three main divisions.
Good News across the Board
We all care the most about Disney Experiences, so I’ll start there.
During the fiscal third quarter, Experiences reported revenue of $9.968 billion.
Photo: Richard Harbaugh/Disneyland Resort
That’s a solid increase of ten percent from the previous quarter.
During the earnings call, Disney will provide additional insights about attendance and revenue at the various theme parks.
However, CFO Hugh Johnston told CNBC that “Walt Disney World did terrifically well. The domestic guests were up three percent…so very strong attendance.”
Main Street, U.S.A.
Remember that just because one park did well or struggled, it doesn’t mean they all did.
At this point, Experiences earns most of Disney’s annual profit.
Hollywood Studios Crowds
For the most recent quarter, this division netted $3.017 billion, which is again ten percent better than a year ago.
Since D’Amaro earned the CEO job based on his performance with Experiences, we shouldn’t be surprised by this division’s dominance.
Photo: Josh D’Amaro on Instagram
Based on recent events, Wall Street is also watching Disney’s Sports division carefully.
During the past quarter, this core earned $4.5 billion, with operating income of $858 million.
ESPN
Disney clearly isn’t ready to move on ESPN yet after the NFL Network acquisition.
Still, the Sports division has decreased its net profit 14 percent thus far this fiscal year, including a 17 percent drop this most recent quarter.
Photo: ESPN
Finally, we have the Entertainment division, which includes a big movie release.
The Devil Wears Prada 2 proved extremely profitable for Disney, which shows up this quarter, as does the early start of Toy Story 5.
Photo: Disney
Disney’s Entertainment core earned $11.345 billion, with operating income of $1.68 billion.
This performance qualifies as a big win for Dana Walden.
Photo: Disney
Remember that she also claimed a promotion to President of Disney.
So, the Entertainment division is squarely her domain.
Final Thoughts
Overall, D’Amaro’s first quarter as Disney CEO looks a lot like Bob Iger’s last one, maybe even a bit better.
Disney benefited from a solid movie slate, while the theme park performance was VERY strong.
Photo: Josh D’Amaro on Instagram
Stay tuned to MickeyBlog throughout the day, as we’ll continue to report on Disney’s earnings and other news.
