Disney+ Blasts Past Expectations With Just Under 130 Million Subscribers

By Fletcher Peters @fIetcherpeters
Published Feb. 9, 2022, 4:23 p.m. ET

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Disney+ has exceeded their 2021 year-end expectations, reaching 129.8 million total subscribers. The stunning number will be officially announced during today’s earnings call with the company where Disney CEO Bob Chapek will give insight about the streaming service’s growth. The streamer added over 11 million new global customers in the latest quarter, a quick jump up from the 118.1 million subscribers announced in November. This news comes after Disney+ missed expectations at the last investor call.

According to these latest numbers, Disney has smashed its original projections to secure between 60 and 90 million subscribers within four years. The platform has soared past that goal in just a year and a half — the service launched in November 2019. Analysts on average had forecast ned additions at just 7.3 million for the period.

Within the last few months, Disney+ has debuted a handful of popular releases, including Hawkeye, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, Loki, and The Ice Age Adventures of Buck Wild. Later this year, series like Moon Knight and Obi-Wan Kenobi are set to debut, with films like Turning Red and Cheaper by the Dozen also set to hit the streamer in the coming months.

For the full year of 2021, Disney+’s subscriber base grew 37%, up 94.9 million from a year prior. With a stunning 129.8 million global subscribers, Disney+ is continuing to close the gap with streaming giant Netflix, which reported 222 million subscribers at their Q4 2021 earnings release. Disney’s streamer is projected to take down Netflix by 2026, an analyst’s forecast predicted last month. Disney+ has toppled Hulu, which has nearly 40 million subscribers, along with HBO Max, which comes in at 44.2 million.

Overall, Disney reported revenue of $21.82 billion and adjusted earnings per share of $1.06 cents for the period, which is the company’s first quarter of fiscal 2022. These numbers blasted bast analyst consensus estimates of $18.36 billion in revenue.

Stay tuned for more updates from today’s Earnings Results call.