Disney revenue better than expected as it starts climbing out of Covid-19

(Reuters) – Walt Disney Co on Thursday reported quarterly revenue that was better than Wall Street expected as live sports returned to ESPN and the company’s theme parks began recovering from shutdowns due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Overall revenue fell 23% to $14.71 billion (£11.22 billion) in the quarter, above analysts’ average estimate of about $14.2 billion.

Disney’s adjusted loss per share, excluding one-time items of 20 cents, also beat Wall Street expectations of a more drastic 70 cents per share loss.

Disney shares jumped 5.6% to $143.12 in after-hours trading.

One year after it launched the Disney+ online streaming subscription to compete with Netflix Inc , Disney said the service had signed up 73.7 million subscribers. Hulu had 36.6 million customers and ESPN+ had 10.3 million.