Disney CEO Bob Iger says that one of four key building opportunities for The Walt Disney Company is “turbocharging growth in our parks and experiences business”. The parks segment of the company just posted a record $32.5 billion in revenue for fiscal 2023 and increased operating income by over 30% when compared to this time last year.
As we look forward, there are four key building opportunities that will be central to our success: achieving significant and sustained profitability in our streaming business, building ESPN into the preeminent digital sports platform, improving the output and economics of our film studios, and turbocharging growth in our parks and experiences business. We have already made considerable advancements in these four areas and will continue to move forward with a sense of purpose and urgency, and I’m bullish about the opportunities we have before us to create lasting growth and increase shareholder value.
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As we announced in September, we plan to turbo charge growth in our experiences business through strategic investments over the next decade. Given our wealth of IP, innovative technology, buildable land, unmatched creativity, and strong returns on invested capital, we’re confident about the potential from our new investments.
While Walt Disney World actually brought down earnings due to accelerated depreciation of the now-closed Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser, wage inflation, and “challenging comparisons” to last year’s 50th Anniversary, the company is looking at investing $17 billion over the next 10 years.
At this year’s Destination D23 event at Disney’s Contemporary Resort, Disney Parks Chairman Josh D’Amaro continued his early legacy of setting a high bar for theme park projects, but many projects are yet to begin as things like the EPCOT overhaul continue to utilize capital expenditure dollars and resources.
As always, keep checking back with us here at BlogMickey.com as we continue to bring you the latest news, photos, and info from around the Disney Parks!