Walt Disney reported fiscal third-quarter adjusted earnings of $2.06 a share, ahead of the $1.85 analysts expected, and announced a partnership with TikTok that will give creators access to material from hundreds of its films and series.
Revenue of $25.25bn rose 6.8 per cent year on year but fell narrowly short of the $25.41bn forecast. The shares gained between 2 and 3 per cent.
What is the TikTok arrangement?
Creators will be able to use assets drawn from Disney’s film and television catalogue, with the resulting short-form videos also appearing on the Disney+ app.
The arrangement gives Disney distribution on a platform where it has limited direct presence, and gives TikTok licensed access to material its users have often posted without permission. It follows a broader move among studios to license catalogue content rather than pursue platforms through the courts.
| Measure | Fiscal Q3 | Consensus |
|---|---|---|
| Adjusted EPS | $2.06 | $1.85 |
| Revenue | $25.25bn | $25.41bn |
| Revenue growth | +6.8% | — |
| FY2026 guidance | Reaffirmed | — |
What did Disney report in its fiscal third quarter?
Walt Disney reported fiscal third-quarter 2026 adjusted earnings of $2.06 a share, exceeding an analyst consensus of $1.85. Revenue of $25.25bn increased 6.8 per cent year on year but came in slightly below the $25.41bn expected. The company reaffirmed its full-year 2026 guidance, and its entertainment and theme park divisions both performed strongly. Disney also announced a partnership with TikTok under which creators will be granted access to assets from hundreds of Disney films and series, with the resulting short-form videos to be carried on the Disney+ application. Shares rose between 2 and 3 per cent following the results, contributing to record highs for the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500.
Which divisions performed?
Entertainment and the theme parks both contributed. Analysts had focused on the parks business ahead of the release, expecting higher guest spending to support the quarter.
How does it fit the wider week?
Disney was among several large companies whose results lifted United States indices to record closes. Quartz reported the S&P 500 reached an all-time intraday high with the Dow gaining 456 points.
The TikTok deal follows Disney’s agreement in December to invest $1bn in OpenAI and license characters for its Sora video generator, a second arrangement placing Disney material on a platform it does not control.
Why license to a rival platform?
Short-form video has drawn attention away from the long-form catalogues that studios own, and Disney has struggled to build a comparable presence of its own. Licensing puts its characters where the audience already is, and turns unauthorised use into a revenue line.
Routing the resulting videos back through Disney+ is the other half of the arrangement. It gives the streaming service a supply of material it does not have to commission, at a point when subscriber growth across the industry has slowed.
Neither company has disclosed financial terms, and no start date for the Disney+ integration has been announced.
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Sources for this report
The Redline News Desk
The Redline News desk files and edits world reporting. Every story carries the sources it was built from, and corrections are published on the story itself.
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