The Walt Disney Company has reported its earnings for the second quarter of 2023, with its theme parks division posting an increase in revenue in the three months ending 1 April.
As above, revenue for Disney’s parks in second quarter of 2023 increased by 17 percent to $7.8 billion and operating income grew by 23 percent to $2.2bn.
Higher operating results for Q2 were due to increases at the US and international parks, particularly growth at Shanghai Disney Resort, Disneyland Paris and Hong Kong Disneyland.
Disney attributes the growth in operating income at its US parks and experiences to an increase at Disney Cruise Line, with the addition of the Disney Wish.
In a post-earnings conference call, Disney CEO Bob Iger said the company sees its theme parks business “as a key growth driver for the company”.
“We have several international expansions underway that will allow our parks to continue to build capacity and drive longer-term growth,” he added.
Iger is referring to the new Frozen-themed land at Disneyland Paris, and the Zootopia-inspired expansion opening at Shanghai Disney Resort this year.
Additionally, the World of Frozen expansion is launching at Hong Kong Disneyland in the second half of 2023, and Tokyo DisneySea is adding lands based on Frozen, Tangled and Peter Pan.
Disney CEO talks “disruptive” AI
In the conference call, Iger also discussed artificial intelligence (AI), saying the technology “is going to be highly disruptive and could be difficult to manage, particularly from an IP management perspective”.
“It’s pretty clear that AI developments represent some pretty interesting opportunities for us and some substantial benefits,” Iger said.
“In fact, we’re already starting to use AI to create some efficiencies and ultimately to better serve consumers. Getting closer to the customer is something that is a real goal of ours – and we think that AI will provide some great opportunities to do that.
“But it’s also clear that AI is going to be highly disruptive, and it could be extremely difficult to manage, particularly from an IP management perspective.”
Images: Disney
