Disney has a lot of ways to test its popularity. The most direct one is profit, and the company just passed with room to spare.
Disney's net income, the profit left after all costs, came to $2.64 billion, or $1.51 per share. A year earlier, in fiscal Q3 2025, it was $5.26 billion, or $2.92 per share.
The year-ago quarter included one-time tax gains from Disney's deal to buy Comcast's Hulu stake. After you strip those out along with restructuring costs, adjusted profit per share climbed from $1.61 to $2.06.
CFO Hugh Johnston told CNBC that domestic park attendance rose 3% and visitor spending per person rose 4%. "Domestically we're doing extremely well right now," he said.
That strength stands out because the competition is not having the same run. Comcast's NBCUniversal reported softer attendance at its Orlando parks, blaming cautious consumers and more expensive travel.
Disney, by contrast, reported "very strong attendance" at Walt Disney World, and Johnston said its numbers look "somewhat different" from what the competitor and Orlando International Airport traffic are showing.
All of this happened while oil prices jumped on tensions among the U.S., Israel and Iran, and while consumers kept saying they felt uncertain.
Streaming is the other growth engine. The entertainment streaming arm, mostly Disney+ and Hulu, brought in $5.53 billion, up 11%, helped by subscriber growth, price increases and ad revenue.
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The broader entertainment division, including linear television and movie releases, posted $11.35 billion in revenue, up 6%. One highlight: "Toy Story 5" has topped $1 billion at the worldwide box office.
ESPN and the rest of the sports business brought in $4.5 billion in revenue, up 4%, as subscription, affiliate and advertising fees grew. ESPN's own streaming service launched about a year ago.
Even with high sports-rights costs, the playoffs delivered. NBA and NHL playoff viewership on ABC and ESPN was up over 100%.
"The last time I think we saw these types of numbers was about 25 or 30 years ago," Johnston said.
There is also one disclosure change to note: Disney no longer reports quarterly streaming subscriber totals or separate revenue and operating profit for its traditional TV networks.
And there is a new TikTok partnership. The worldwide deal will bring selected fan-made Disney content from TikTok to Disney's platforms, a direct response to the fight for young audiences who spend their time on YouTube and TikTok.
Two smaller items are worth knowing. Disney got roughly $100 million back from tariffs, a refund tied to the Trump administration's import taxes on trade partners and their reversal.
It also sold its 50% stake in A+E Global Media to Hearst for roughly $1.2 billion. That cash helped Disney raise its fiscal 2026 stock buyback target to at least $9 billion from $8 billion.
A buyback is when a company buys its own shares, shrinking the pile and giving the remaining shares a bigger claim on future earnings. For shareholders, that can matter as much as the earnings beat itself.
A reorganization is coming, too. Starting in fiscal Q1 2027, Disney will move most consumer products out of the experiences division and into the entertainment division, putting merchandise closer to the studios that create the characters.
CEO Josh D'Amaro, who replaced Bob Iger, is hosting his second earnings call since becoming CEO. It starts at 8:30 a.m. ET on Aug 5 2026.
On the previous call, he described a plan to lean on Disney's characters and stories to grow parks and entertainment. This quarter's numbers line up with that plan.
The takeaway for your portfolio is the signal in the buyback. When a company raises the amount of its own stock it plans to buy while beating profit estimates, it is putting money behind its own outlook.
That does not erase the risks around consumer spending or geopolitics, but it is a reason to keep paying attention.
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