🏰 Disney’s streaming surprise

1. Disney+ crushes subscriber-growth expectations, suggesting that not all streamers are created equal

It’s the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse… but the celebration’s happening in Mickey’s boardroom. Disney shares popped 7% after it reported expectation-beating sales and profit. Quarterly revenue at the House of Mouse surged 26%, fueled by theme parks and surprisingly strong streaming growth.

• Parks and experiences revenue surged 70% from last year, hitting a record $7.4B. Profit 6X’d as consumers flocked back to Disney parks, cruises, and resorts (#BrunchWithBelle).
• Streaming crushed: Disney+ added 14.4M subscribers (beating expectations of 10M), for a total of 152M. Most new subs came from outside North America.
• The streaming #s are a validating sign for CEO Bob Chapek’s goal of hitting between 230M and 260M Disney+ subscribers and achieving streaming profitability by September 2024.

All eyes on streaming… Investors were eagerly awaiting Disney+ subscriber numbers for indicators on the streaming industry’s growth prospects. Mid-pandemic, streaming’s future looked brighter than Tinker Bell’s wings. Now it’s iffy:

• The downside: Netflix lost 1M subs last quarter and expects to add just 1M this quarter — a major slowdown and a foreboding sign for streamers.
• The meh side: Comcast had no subscriber gains for Peacock last quarter, and Warner Bros.’ HBO Max and Discovery+ gained just 1.7M subs combined.
• The upside: Disney’s big gains. Also: Paramount+ added a relatively strong 3.7M subs.

THE TAKEAWAY

Netflix is no longer the benchmark… for the entire streaming industry. Disney’s #s showed this was a mixed quarter for streamers — read: it’s not all gloom and doom in the streamer-verse. Less than three years after launching, Disney+ is just 70M subs away from catching up to Netflix. But Disney’s streamers (Disney+, Hulu, ESPN+) are still losing billions as it splurges on original content, and now it’s raising prices to curb losses. TBD if that’ll hurt its ambitious goals.

2. Paris Hilton launches a virtual Malibu mansion on metagaming site Sandbox as celebs promote digital real estate

Virtual margs on the meta-roof… that’s hot. Mega-influencer and entrepreneur Paris Hilton has teamed up her media company with metaverse gaming site Sandbox to open a virtual Malibu mansion (trailer here). The Sandbox is a “decentralized virtual world” where users can buy land, browse shops, and attend concerts — all virtually. With 40M+ global downloads, The Sandbox has become a hot spot for celebs to interact with fans:

• Meta-palace: As part of the launch, fans can buy Paris-inspired NFTs and avatars, and attend virtual rooftop parties with the “OG crypto queen.” Paris’ company says she’s earned $3.5M from NFTs this year.
• The guest list: Sandbox has 300+ partnerships with big names like Snoop Dogg, DJ Steve Aoki, and mega retailers Gucci and Adidas.
• FYI: Paris first got into meta-events in December with an interactive "Paris World" on Roblox, which attracted 544K fans.

Digital “For Sale” sign... Metaverse real estate has crumbled during crypto winter, with virtual land prices down 80% in the past six months. Last quarter, The Sandbox’s virtual-land sales hit their lowest level in over a year as IRL inflation tamps digi-splurging. But that hasn’t stopped meta-platforms from sealing deals with brands and celebs.

• A-listers help The Sandbox engage with its 350K+ monthly users and boost (virtual) property values. ICYMI: someone paid $450K to be Snoop’s meta-neighbor last year.

THE TAKEAWAY

Celebs are bridging the “phygital” gap… by bringing their real world into the virtual world. These physical-digital partnerships can help celebs and brands earn fresh $$ from new forms of virtual entertainment. Imagine: hitting up Paris’ virtual rooftop DJ set before heading to Snoop’s meta-mansion for the after-party.

What else we’re Snackin’

• Swipe: This dating market is competitive: Bumble shares fell as much as 13% yesterday after the swipe titan lowered its annual revenue expectations amid swipe fatigue and rising competition from Tinder owner Match.
• Spin: Flying taxis are inching toward takeoff: yesterday United Airlines paid a $10M deposit for 100 Archer Aviation electric taxis. American and Boeing also invested in air taxis, which aren’t yet approved.
• Audit: The tax collector’s getting a raise: the US Senate approved $46B for IRS “enforcement,” which has raised concerns that tax audits will increase. The IRS says small businesses and ordinary people won’t see changes.
• Dump: The saga continues: Elon has sold $7B in Tesla stock in recent days, and $32B since November. One reason: he’s piling up cash in case he’s forced to complete his $44B Twitter-quisition.
• Avatar: Even Robux can’t escape ’flation: tween-favorite gaming platform Roblox is still adding users, but they’re not spending as much during games — another sign of the gaming slowdown.

Snack Fact of the Day

Thursday

• Jobless claims
• Earnings expected from Baidu, Canada Goose, Rivian, Toast, and Warby Parker

Authors of this Snacks own: shares of Match, Disney, Netflix, Comcast, Tesla, Twitter, Apple, and Google

ID: 2348714