In his first quarterly earnings call since succeeding Bob Iger in March, Disney chief executive Josh D’Amaro laid out his vision for the entertainment juggernaut.
The Mouse House beat expectations for its second quarter. Streaming profit surged 88% to $873 million (US$582 million), and the division crossed the 10% operating margin threshold for the first time. Meanwhile, the company generated $37.8 billion (US$25.2 billion) in total revenue, up 7%, driven largely by resilient theme park spending.
But beyond the rosy balance sheet, the industry listened closely for D’Amaro’s long-term strategy. How exactly does the former theme park boss plan to steer a global media empire through economic headwinds, subscription churn, and the looming spectre of artificial intelligence?
The digital and physical centrepieces
D’Amaro built his blueprint on an initiative the company internally dubs “One Disney”. This strategy aims to break down the traditional silos between its vast divisions.
According to the new chief executive, Disney+, the streaming service, actively evolves into the digital centrepiece of the brand. Meanwhile, the physical centrepiece remains the Disney theme parks.
D’Amaro wants to cross-pollinate these highly lucrative audiences.
“A large number of our park visitors, they’re also Disney+ subscribers, but there are millions of Disney+ subscribers who aren’t regular park visitors,” D’Amaro told investors.
Advanced tech and the AI question
While D’Amaro stressed human creativity remains central to everything Disney does, he fully embraced the tech conversation. He called technology a powerful accelerant for the business. Disney actively deploys artificial intelligence to streamline operations and enhance the consumer experience.
Ironically, D’Amaro champions AI just weeks after Disney’s major partnership with OpenAI imploded.
Still, on the parks side, Disney tests AI to optimise labour forecasting and reduce the notoriously complex friction of planning a family vacation. On the digital side, AI-driven personalisation keeps viewers glued to their screens and limits subscriber churn.
A focus on franchises
Despite a few box office stumbles over the past three years, Disney refuses to back away from its intellectual property. D’Amaro pledged to continue investing heavily in established franchises while also nurturing new original stories.
He pointed to the recent Pixar success ‘Hoppers’ as proof the studio still mints fresh hits.
Disney and Pixar’s ‘Hoppers’. Image: Disney
Operating income in the entertainment division rose 6%, and D’Amaro confidently projects 12% adjusted earnings-per-share growth for the 2026 fiscal year. Following the call, Wall Street rewarded the strategy with an immediate 8% stock bump.
Disney downunder
The global Disney strategy presents an interesting local paradox. While D’Amaro focuses on integrating massive global franchises and physical theme parks, the Australian Disney+ team faces an entirely different set of immediate pressures.
With the Federal Government’s local content quotas for streamers kicking in at the start of 2026, platforms like Disney+ now face mandatory requirements to invest either 10% of their local expenditure or 7.5% of their local revenue into homegrown Australian productions.
As Disney attempts to turn its platform into a holistic global lifestyle hub, the local operation must simultaneously ramp up its commissioning slate to ensure it meets these new legislative benchmarks.
‘Hoppers’ downunder?
Feature image- Disney chief executive Josh D’Amaro: file.