Today, The Walt Disney Company announced that Disney+ added 2.1 million customers, the streamer’s slowest growth since launching two years ago. As of Oct. 2, Disney Plus had 118.1 million paid subscribers worldwide, inching up from 116 million at the end of the prior quarter, the company said in reporting its fiscal Q4 2021 results.
CEO Bob Chapek was crystal clear when he said “Expect new subscriber count to be in the low single digits,” I have no clue why some Wall Street Analysts set expectations at 9.4 million, says our business reporter, Sean Nyberg.
Read: Disney+ Day: Ahead Of Friday’s Festivities, The Company Enters The NFT Space
The number was well short of Wall Street forecasts, which had pegged around 10 million net adds: Analysts on average expected Disney Plus subscribers to reach 126.2 million for the quarter, per FactSet. In September, CEO Bob Chapek had cautioned that Disney expected the streamer’s growth to slow down from the prior quarter to increase by a net “low single-digit millions of subscribers,” citing in part COVID-related production delays.
The streamer is expected to see a decent boost over the next couple of months, starting with Disney+ Day, this Friday, as the streamer is debuting new content including Home Sweet Home Alone, Shang-Chi, Jungle Cruise, and the debut of Enchanted. The event includes a limited-time promo offering Disney Plus for $1.99 for the first month to new and returning customers. The company plans to unleash a slew of content premieres, trailers and first-looks from Disney, Pixar, Marvel, and Star Wars.
Disney+ will also debut major series including Hawkeye and The Book of Boba Fett in December, which will also help drive subscriber growth in the coming weeks. Disney has told investors it expects Disney Plus to reach 230 million-260 million total paid subscribers by September 2024.
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