DISNEY ADDS 5 MILLION STREAMING SUBSCRIBERS

As Bob Iger approaches the first anniversary of his return as CEO of The Walt Disney Co., he delivered a strong earnings report Wednesday, telling investors the company added roughly 5 million subscribers to its streaming services in the last three months.

In a statement, Iger acknowledged that Disney still had “work to do,” but he highlighted the company’s “significant progress” over the last year in reorganizing itself.

“These efforts have allowed us to move beyond this period of fixing and begin building our businesses again,” Iger said.

The results, for services including Disney+, Hulu and ESPN+, could help Disney stave off Nelson Peltz, an activist investor who has been pushing the company to come up with a plan to replace Iger, improve the profitability of the streaming services and reinstate the company’s dividend.

The company said its profits jumped to $694 million in the third quarter, from $254 million a year ago. One bright spot was Disney’s experiences division, which includes parks and cruises. Its operating profit grew 30 percent from the same period a year earlier.

The company also narrowed losses for its streaming services, thanks partly to price increases at Disney+ and Hulu and lower marketing and technology costs. The addition of 7 million subscribers to its Disney+ service helped offset losses elsewhere.

Disney is at a crossroads. Iger, the up-before-dawn face of the company, has shown a willingness to shake up the company’s traditional structure since he returned last November. He said in an interview this year that the business model supporting Disney’s businesses like the broadcast network ABC was no longer working, a noteworthy acknowledgment from a former weather forecaster who rose through the ranks of the company’s TV business.

“The distribution model, the business model that forms the underpinning of that business and that has delivered great profits over the years, is definitely broken,” Iger said during an interview with CNBC at the annual Sun Valley mogul gathering. “And we have to call it like it is.”

Since then, Disney has pursued selling a stake in ESPN and there have been reports that the company is also exploring options for ABC, which has been synonymous with the company for decades.