08:32 AM EDT, 05/07/2024 (MT Newswires) -- Walt Disney ( DIS ) on Tuesday raised its full-year earnings growth outlook as the media and entertainment giant's fiscal second-quarter results increased annually, although revenue fell short of market estimates.

The company now anticipates per-share adjusted earnings to grow by 25% for fiscal 2024, compared with its prior guidance for a gain of at least 20%. The consensus on Capital IQ is for normalized EPS of $4.70. In the March quarter, Disney's ( DIS ) adjusted EPS climbed 30% to $1.21, topping the Street's view for $1.10.

However, the company's shares fell 5.5% in recent premarket activity.

Revenue for the second quarter ticked up 1% to $22.08 billion, but was just shy of analysts' $22.14 billion forecast. Disney ( DIS ) also swung to a net loss in the period due to a goodwill impairment charge of $2.05 billion, related to merging its Star India division into a new joint venture with Indian multinational conglomerate Reliance Industries.

In the experiences segment, the company's revenue inclined 10% to $8.39 billion, as domestic and international parks and experiences logged gains of 7% and 29%, respectively. Consumer products sales moved 3% higher to $913 million driven by higher games licensing revenue.

"Our results were driven in large part by our experiences segment as well as our streaming business," Chief Executive Robert Iger said in a statement. "Importantly, entertainment streaming was profitable for the quarter, and we remain on track to achieve profitability in our combined streaming businesses in (the fourth quarter)."

The entertainment division's revenue slipped 5% to $9.8 billion, as a 13% growth in direct-to-consumer sales were offset by declines of 8% in linear networks and 40% in content sales and licensing. The number of core Disney+ subscribers rose 6% sequentially to 117.6 million, while Disney+ Hotstar users slipped 6% to 36 million. Hulu's paid subscribers increased to 50.2 million from 49.7 million as of Dec 30.

Disney ( DIS ) expects "softer" direct-to-consumer results in the current quarter driven by Disney+ Hotstar. It still projects the combined streaming businesses to be a "meaningful future growth driver" with further improvements in profitability for fiscal 2025. For the experiences segment, third-quarter operating income is pegged to come in "roughly comparable" to the previous year.

"Looking at our company as a whole, it's clear that the turnaround and growth initiatives we set in motion last year have continued to yield positive results," according to Iger.

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