Disney+ Streaming Service Adds Just 2 Million Subscribers, Stock Drops 4.6%

Disney+ has been hitting a wall in subscriber sign-ups after a period where they seemed to be skyrocketing, The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported.

The entertainment giant added just over 2 million subscribers in the fourth quarter, which ended Oct. 2, according to the report. The company’s subscriber count now sits at 118.1 million, which is below the 125.3 million expected by analysts. That has put an end to the two years of growth that propelled Disney through the pandemic, making it more ubiquitous in customers’ media habits at home.

Shares of Disney+ dropped 4.6% Wednesday (Nov. 10) in after-hours trading on the news.

Disney CEO Bob Chapek said the company is looking at its direct-to-consumer (D2C) business on more of a “long-term” basis instead of quarter to quarter, the report stated.

Disney’s Q4 earnings are a story of the duality of the world trying to get back to normal. The company’s theme park revenue was up 99%, according to the report. Live sports contributed to ad revenue. Box office grosses during the quarter came from four movies, whereas the previous year’s came from just one.

However, Chapek said he thinks the physical and digital worlds could be blending, the report stated. Disney park visitors have new options to download apps and tools to make itineraries, order food and more. Meanwhile, the company has been putting out movies and TV shows on both large and small screens.

PYMNTS reported that the “streaming wars” have been shaken up as of late, particularly as Netflix’s “Squid Game” rocketed to the top of the streaming giant’s ratings list and was viewed by more than 140 million subscribers in October, or over half the total subscriber base.

Read more: Streaming Wars Heat up as Consumers Do the Math on Subscription Services

As of October, Netflix had over 213 million paid subscribers, while Disney+ had 116 million, although its actual total ended up around 174 million because of its ownership of Hulu and ESPN.