00:00If people are worried about crude and energy prices, we're certainly not seeing it in these numbers, are we?
00:05No, we're not. And this is what I think investors were really worried about, John, kind of coming into this
00:10quarter,
00:11you know, rising gas prices, all of this geopolitical tension, whether it would have a palpable impact on theme park
00:18demand.
00:19And what we saw Disney report for fiscal second quarter was actually a 5% increase in operating income.
00:25We were expecting only about 2%. And this is despite a very, very tough economic backdrop.
00:30And the better news is that they've pointed to strength and a pickup in the third quarter and the second
00:36half of the year.
00:37So all in all, a really strong report from Disney.
00:41Geetha, do you think this is a Walt Disney experience, unique thing that people just keep spending on?
00:46Or are you saying this across the sector?
00:49I think a lot of it, John, is the Walt Disney experience.
00:53And we've seen kind of this move towards this premium, towards getting this more premium experience.
01:00And we saw that in the numbers, too.
01:02So if you just look at visitation, visitation and attendance has actually been a little bit soft, especially from international
01:08visitors.
01:09We've seen them kind of pull back a little bit.
01:12But what we're really seeing is strength in per capita spending by guests, you know.
01:17And this is really what is driving revenue and driving operating income.
01:21And a lot of that is that premium experience that, you know, people are so willing to pay for, the
01:25Disney brand.
01:26How much, just more broadly, is Disney seeing consumers accepting price increases at its direct consumer outlets, its Disney Plus
01:34offering, as well as at parks?
01:36I mean, beyond just the premium offering.
01:39We are seeing strong pricing power.
01:42And, you know, we saw that in the streaming products.
01:45So really good streaming growth.
01:47A lot of that is being driven by their content.
01:50So they pointed out Zootopia 2, which has been huge for them as a theatrical movie.
01:54And, of course, now doing really well on their streaming plus, on their Disney Plus streaming platform.
01:58And, really, if you kind of look at Disney, they've been very, very aggressive in terms of price increases.
02:03So just over the past four years, streaming prices have gone up around 70%.
02:09And consumers have been willing to absorb that.
02:13So, so far, it's been working pretty well for Disney.
02:15Of course, the one other thing that they have in their favor is the bundle.
02:19So the Disney bundle, of course, if you get the Disney Plus, the Hulu, and the ESPN, typically tends to
02:24be a much more compelling value proposition.
02:27And that has also definitely helped them.
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