Walt Disney 10-Q 2025-12-27

UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

FORM 10-Q

☒ QUARTERLY REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

For the quarterly period ended December 27, 2025

or

☐ TRANSITION REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

For the transition period from __________ to __________.

Commission File Number 001-38842

500 South Buena Vista Street

Burbank, California 91521

Address of Principal Executive Offices and Zip Code

(818) 560-1000

Registrant’s Telephone Number, Including Area Code

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days. Yes ☒ No ¨

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically every Interactive Data File required to be submitted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T (§ 232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit such files). Yes ☒ No ¨

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, a smaller reporting company, or an emerging growth company. See the definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer,” “smaller reporting company” and “emerging growth company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.

If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act. ¨

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Act). Yes ☐ No ☒

There were 1,771,519,851 shares of common stock outstanding as of January 28, 2026.

THE WALT DISNEY COMPANY

Form 10-Q

For the Fiscal Quarter Ended December 27, 2025

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Cautionary Note on Forward-Looking Statements

This Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. Forward-looking statements generally relate to future events or our future financial or operating performance and may include statements concerning, among other things, financial results; business plans (including statements regarding new products and services, future expenditures, cost, investments and transactions for which conditions to close have not been satisfied; future liabilities and other obligations; impairments and amortization; estimates of the financial impact of certain items, accounting treatment, events or circumstances; competition and seasonality on our businesses and results of operations; and capital allocation, including share repurchases and dividends. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements because they contain words such as “may,” “will,” “would,” “expects,” “plans,” “could,” “intends,” “target,” “projects,” “forecasts,” “believes,” “estimates,” “anticipates,” “potential,” “continue,” “assumption” or “judgment” or the negative of these words or other similar terms or expressions that concern our expectations, strategy, plans or intentions. These statements reflect our current views with respect to future events and are based on assumptions as of the date of this report. These statements are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause our actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from expectations or results projected or implied by forward-looking statements.

Such differences may result from actions taken by the Company, including restructuring or strategic initiatives (including capital investments, asset acquisitions or dispositions, new or expanded business lines or cessation of certain operations), our execution of our business plans (including the content we create and intellectual properties (IP) we invest in, our pricing decisions, our cost structure and our management and other personnel decisions), our ability to quickly execute on cost rationalization while preserving revenue, the discovery of additional information or other business decisions, as well as from developments beyond the Company’s control, including:

• the occurrence of subsequent events;

• deterioration in domestic and global economic conditions or failure of conditions to improve as anticipated;

• deterioration in or pressures from competitive conditions, including competition to create or acquire content, competition for talent and competition for advertising revenue;

• consumer preferences for and acceptance of our content offerings and the distribution channel (including pricing and bundling of our streaming services and impact on churn and subscriber additions) and our leisure travel destinations;

• the market for advertising sales on our streaming services and linear networks;

• health concerns and their impact on our businesses and productions;

• international, including tariffs and other trade policies, political or military developments;

• regulatory and legal developments;

• technological developments;

• labor markets and activities, including work stoppages;

• adverse weather conditions or natural disasters; and

• availability of content.

Such developments may further affect entertainment, travel and leisure businesses generally and may, among other things, affect (or further affect, as applicable):

• our operations, business plans or profitability;

• demand for our products and services;

• the performance of the Company’s content;

• our ability to create or obtain desirable content at or under the value we assign the content;

• the advertising market for programming;

• taxation; and

• performance of some or all Company businesses either directly or through their impact on those who distribute our products.

Additional factors include those described in our 2025 Annual Report on Form 10-K, including under the captions “Risk Factors,” “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations,” and “Business,” in our subsequent quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, including under the captions “Risk Factors” and “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations,” and in our subsequent filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A forward-looking statement is neither a prediction nor a guarantee of future events or circumstances. You should not place undue reliance on the forward-looking statements. Unless required by federal securities laws, we assume no obligation to update any of these forward-looking statements, or to update the reasons actual results could differ materially from those anticipated, to reflect circumstances or events that occur after the statements are made.

PART I. FINANCIAL INFORMATION

THE WALT DISNEY COMPANY

CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF INCOME

(unaudited; in millions, except per share data)

See Notes to Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements

THE WALT DISNEY COMPANY

CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF COMPREHENSIVE INCOME

(unaudited; in millions)

See Notes to Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements

THE WALT DISNEY COMPANY

CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS

(unaudited; in millions, except per share data)

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ORGANIZATION OF INFORMATION

Management’s Discussion and Analysis provides a narrative of the Company’s financial performance and condition that should be read in conjunction with the accompanying financial statements. It includes the following sections:

• Consolidated Results

• Current Quarter Results Compared to Prior-Year Quarter

• Seasonality

• Business Segment Results

• Corporate and Unallocated Shared Expenses

• Financial Condition

• Market Risk

• Commitments and Contingencies

• Other Matters

• Supplemental Guarantor Financial Information

CONSOLIDATED RESULTS

CURRENT QUARTER RESULTS COMPARED TO PRIOR-YEAR QUARTER

Revenues for the quarter increased 5%, or $1.3 billion, to $26.0 billion; net income attributable to Disney decreased to $2.4 billion compared to $2.6 billion in the prior-year quarter; and diluted earnings per share (EPS) attributable to Disney decreased to $1.34 compared to $1.40 in the prior-year quarter. The net income and EPS decreases were due to lower operating income at Entertainment and a higher effective income tax rate. These decreases were partially offset by higher operating income at Experiences, the comparison to charges taken in connection with the Star India Transaction and a legal settlement in the prior-year quarter and lower intangible amortization and interest expense.

Revenues

Service revenues for the quarter increased 5%, or $1.2 billion, to $23.2 billion, which included an approximate 1 percentage point increase from the Fubo Transaction and an approximate 1 percentage point decrease from the Star India

MANAGEMENT’S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF

FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS — (continued)

Transaction. Aside from these impacts, service revenues increased due to an increase in content sales, growth at our parks and experiences businesses and, to a lesser extent, higher subscription and affiliate fees.

Product revenues for the quarter increased 5%, or $0.1 billion, to $2.8 billion due to growth at our parks and experiences businesses.

Costs and expenses

Cost of services for the quarter increased 9%, or $1.2 billion, to $15.0 billion, which included an approximate 2 percentage point increase from the Fubo Transaction and an approximate 1 percentage point decrease due to the Star India Transaction. Aside from these impacts, cost of services increased due to higher programming and production costs and, to a lesser extent, the impact of inflation and increased volumes at our parks and experiences businesses.

Selling, general, administrative and other costs increased 5%, or $0.2 billion, to $4.1 billion, due to higher marketing costs.

Depreciation and amortization increased 3% to $1.3 billion driven by higher depreciation at our parks and experiences and Entertainment businesses, partially offset by lower amortization of intangible assets.

Restructuring and impairment charges

In the prior-year quarter, the Company recorded a $143 million loss in connection with the Star India Transaction.

Interest expense, net

Interest expense, net is as follows:

The decrease in interest expense was due to lower average debt balanc

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See Item 2, Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations, Note 14 to the Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements and in Note 17 to Consolidated Financial Statements in Part II, Item 8 of the 2025 Annual Report on Form 10-K.

Evaluation of Disclosure Controls and Procedures – We have established disclosure controls and procedures to ensure that the information required to be disclosed by the Company in the reports that it files or submits under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 is recorded, processed, summarized and reported within the time periods specified in SEC rules and forms and that such information is accumulated and made known to the officers who certify the Company’s financial reports and to other members of senior management and the Board of Directors as appropriate to allow timely decisions regarding required disclosure.

Based on their evaluation as of December 27, 2025, the principal executive officer and principal financial officer of the Company have concluded that the Company’s disclosure controls and procedures (as defined in Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e) under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934) are effective.

Changes in Internal Controls – There have been no changes in our internal control over financial reporting during the first quarter of fiscal 2026 that have materially affected, or are reasonably likely to materially affect, our internal control over financial reporting.

PART II. OTHER INFORMATION

ITEM 1. Legal Proceedings

As disclosed in Note 12 to the Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements, the Company is engaged in certain legal matters, and the disclosure set forth in Note 12 to the Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements relating to certain legal matters is incorporated herein by reference.

For an enterprise as large and complex as the Company, a wide range of factors could materially affect future developments and performance. In addition to the factors affecting specific business operations identified in connection with the description of these operations and the financial results of these operations elsewhere in our filings with the SEC, the most significant factors affecting our business include the factors discussed in our 2025 Annual Report on Form 10-K under Item 1A, “Risk Factors” as updated below:

RISKS RELATED TO OUR BUSINESSES AND INDUSTRY

We face risks related to the renewal of long-term programming or distribution contracts on sufficiently favorable terms.

We enter into long-term contracts for both the acquisition and the distribution of media programming and products, including contracts for the acquisition of programming rights for sporting events and other programs, and contracts for the distribution of our programming to content distributors. As these contracts expire, we renew or renegotiate the contracts, which from time to time has led to service blackouts when distribution contracts expired before renewal terms were agreed. We may lose programming rights or distribution rights if we are unable to renew these contracts on acceptable terms. Renewal negotiations with certain MVPDs for distribution contracts scheduled to expire in fiscal 2026 could lead to temporary or longer-term service blackouts, negatively impacting our results of operations. For example, in the first quarter of fiscal 2026, the Company’s channels were temporarily removed from YouTube TV following the expiration of the parties’ distribution contract without agreement on renewal terms. Further, our portfolio of acquired programming rights, such as sporting events, and the distributors of our programming and the portfolio of programming rights our distributors acquire have changed and will continue to change over time. Even if these contracts are renewed, the cost of obtaining certain programming rights has increased and may continue to increase (or increase at faster rates than our historical experience) and programming distributors demand terms (including with respect to the pricing for, and the nature and amount of, programming distributed) that reduce our revenue from distribution of programs or increase revenue at slower rates than our historical experience. For example, the terms of certain renewals of carriage agreements have included fewer of our linear networks or the opportunity to offer multiple genre-specific bundle options of fewer than all our linear networks while providing for certain of our DTC streaming services to be made available to the distributor’s subscribers. Moreover, our ability to renew these contracts on favorable terms is affected by a number of factors, such as consolidation in the market for program distribution and the entrance of new participants in the market for distribution of content on digital platforms. With respect to the acquisition of programming rights, particularly sports programming rights, the impact of these long-term contracts on our results over the term of the contracts depends on a number of factors, including the strength of advertising markets, subscription levels and programming rights costs increases, effectiveness of marketing efforts and the size of viewer audiences. There can be no assurance that revenues from programming based on these rights will exceed the cost of the rights plus the other costs of producing and distributing the programming.

The seasonality of certain of our businesses and timing of certain of our product offerings could exacerbate negative impacts on our operations.

Each of our businesses is normally subject to seasonal variations and variations in connection with the timing of our product offerings. See our 2025 Annual Report on Form 10-K under Item 1 – ENTERTAINMENT – Competition and Seasonality; – SPORTS – Competition and Seasonality; and – EXPERIENCES – Competition and Seasonality and Part 1, Item 2 – SEASONALITY in this Form 10-Q for a discussion of seasonal and other timing variations, as well as certain other fluctuations, on our results of operations. Further, negative impacts on our business occurring during a time of typical high seasonal demand, such as our park closures due to hurricane damage during the summer travel season or other high seasons or sports league work stoppages during that sports season, could have a disproportionate effect on the results of that business for the year.

RISKS RELATED TO INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY, LITIGATION, CYBERSECURITY AND REGULATORY REQUIREMENTS

We face risks related to the intellectual property rights that we hold as well as rights asserted by third parties.

The value to us of our IP is dependent on the scope and duration of our rights as defined by applicable laws in the U.S. and abroad and the manner in which those laws are construed. Where those laws are drafted or interpreted in ways that limit the

extent or duration of our rights, or if existing laws are changed, our ability to generate revenue from our IP may decrease, or the cost of obtaining and maintaining rights may increase.

In the United States and countries that look to the United States copyright term when shorter than their own, the copyright term for early works and the specific early versions of characters depicted in those works expires at the end of the 95th calendar year after the date the copyright was originally secured in the United States. The terms of some copyrights for IP related to some of our products and services have expired, and other copyrights will expire in the future. For example, the copyright term for the short film Steamboat Willie (1928) and early versions of characters depicted in this film have expired. As copyrights expire, we expect that revenues generated from such IP will be negatively impacted to some extent.

The unauthorized use of our IP typically increases our costs, including in connection with our efforts to protect rights in our IP, and may reduce our revenues. The convergence of computing, communications and entertainment devices, increased broadband internet speed and penetration, increased availability and speed of mobile data transmission and increasingly sophisticated attempts to obtain unauthorized access to data systems have made the unauthorized digital copying and distribution of our films, television productions and other creative works easier and faster and protection and the enforcement of IP rights more challenging. The unauthorized distribution and access to entertainment content generally continues to be a significant challenge for IP rights holders. Further, the availability of certain AI tools has facilitated the creation of infringing works based on the unauthorized use of our IP. Inadequate laws or weak enforcement mechanisms to protect entertainment industry IP in one country can adversely affect the results of the Company’s operations worldwide, despite the Company’s efforts to protect its IP rights. Distribution innovations have increased opportunities to access content in unauthorized ways. Additionally, negative economic conditions or a shift in government priorities or policies could lead to less enforcement. These developments require us to devote substantial resources to protecting our IP against unlicensed use and present the risk of increased losses of revenue as a result of unlicensed distribution of our content and other commercial misuses of our IP. The legal landscape for some new technologies, including some AI tools, remains uncertain, and development of the law or other regulatory frameworks in this area could impact our ability to protect against unauthorized uses.

With respect to IP developed by the Company and rights acquired by the Company from others, the Company is subject to the risk of challenges to our copyright, trademark and patent rights by third parties. In addition, the availability of copyright protection and other legal protections for IP generated by certain new technologies, such as generative AI, is uncertain. Successful challenges to our rights in IP typically result in increased costs for obtaining rights or the loss of the opportunity to earn revenue from or utilize the IP that is the subject of challenged rights.

The Company is also subject to the risk of claims and litigation asserting that the Company is infringing certain third-party IP rights. Technological changes in industries in which the Company operates and extensive patent coverage in those areas increase the risk of such claims being brought and prevailing. For example, the Company’s streaming services and technology are subject to patent infringement claims and litigation both in the United States and outside the United States. In defending such matters, we have developed, and may in the future develop, alternatives to features, functionalities and services in the relevant jurisdictions or more broadly, which increase our costs through investment of engineering and other resources and may result in some customers discontinuing use of our services. Adverse results in these matters and other matters asserting infringement of other types of third-party IP rights may include substantial payments by us, including royalties, licensing fees or monetary awards, and orders preventing us from offering or requiring us to change certain features, functionalities or services, which could harm our businesses and in aggregate negatively impact our results of operations.

ITEM 2. Unregistered Sales of Equity Securities and Use of Proceeds

(c)The following table provides information about Company purchases of equity securities that are registered by the Company pursuant to Section 12 of the Exchange Act during the quarter ended December 27, 2025:

(1)Amounts exclude the one percent excise tax on stock repurchases imposed by the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022.

(2)Under a share repurchase program implemented effective February 7, 2024, the Company is authorized to repurchase a total of 400 million shares of its common stock. The repurchase program does not have an expiration date.

Rule 10b5-1 Trading Arrangements

On December 11, 2025, Horacio E. Gutierrez, the Company’s Chief Legal and Public Affairs Officer adopted a trading plan intended to satisfy the affirmative defense of Rule 10b5-1(c) under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. Mr. Gutierrez’s trading plan provides for the sale of up to 200,147 gross shares of the Company’s common stock (which includes the potential exercise of vested stock options granted to Mr. Gutierrez and the associated sale of shares of the Company’s common stock, excluding any shares used to effect a cashless exercise or withheld to satisfy tax withholding obligations in connection with the exercise or net settlement of the option awards). Mr. Gutierrez’s trading plan is scheduled to terminate on December 15, 2026.

INDEX OF EXHIBITS

SIGNATURE

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned thereunto duly authorized.

February 2, 2026

Burbank, California