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Walt Disney Earnings Beat Market Estimates; Profit Slips at Parks

The entrance to Walt Disney studios is seen in Burbank, California, US August 6, 2018. REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson/File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights
The entrance to Walt Disney studios is seen in Burbank, California, US August 6, 2018. REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson/File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights
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Walt Disney Earnings Beat Market Estimates; Profit Slips at Parks

The entrance to Walt Disney studios is seen in Burbank, California, US August 6, 2018. REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson/File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights
The entrance to Walt Disney studios is seen in Burbank, California, US August 6, 2018. REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson/File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights

Walt Disney reported on Wednesday quarterly earnings that exceeded Wall Street expectations, buoyed by the success of animated Pixar film "Inside Out 2", which helped overcome a profit decline at theme parks.

April-June operating income nearly tripled at its Entertainment unit, with the combined streaming businesses of Disney+, Hulu and ESPN+ posting a profit for the first time, Reuters reported.

But the company's shares slipped 0.8% before the bell as its experiences segment that includes parks and consumer products - and makes up just over half of profit - recorded an operating income drop of 3%. Disney said "moderation" of demand at its US parks could continue through the next few quarters.

Operating income for the unit is likely to fall by "mid single digits" in the July-September quarter compared with the same period a year prior, Disney said.

Adjusted earnings-per-share reached $1.39 for Disney's fiscal third quarter, topping analyst estimates of $1.19, LSEG data showed. Revenue rose 4% to $23.2 billion, beating forecasts of $23.1 billion.

Chief Executive Bob Iger touted success in the entertainment division, where Disney's combined streaming businesses turned a profit a quarter ahead of its projections.

"We are confident in our ability to continue driving earnings growth through our collection of unique and powerful assets," Iger said in a statement.

Iger is working to rebuild Disney after billions of dollars in loss from streaming efforts, the decline of traditional television and a rough patch for its storied film studio.

The movie studio is showing signs of resurgence.

"Inside Out 2" notched $1.6 billion in global ticket sales and "Deadpool & Wolverine," which debuted in the current quarter, has brought in more than $850 million.

"After several years of misfires and muted successes, Disney has now in the span of a month and a half released the highest grossing animated film of all time and achieved the largest ever opening for an R-Rated film," MoffettNathanson media analyst Robert Fishman wrote ahead of Disney's earnings release.

While it remains to be seen whether those successes represent a return to form, Fishman said, the upcoming film slate is "filled with highly dependable" titles including "Moana 2" and Oscar-winning director Barry Jenkins' "Mufasa: The Lion King."

The Entertainment division, which includes the film, television and streaming businesses, reported operating income of $1.2 billion in the quarter.

The Disney+, Hulu and ESPN+ streaming services produced operating profit of $47 million.

At the Sports unit, which includes the ESPN network and Star India business, operating income reached $802 million, a 6% decline from the previous year as costs to air cricket matches increased.

The experiences unit reported operating income of $2.2 billion. Demand slid at domestic parks, cruise ships, consumer products and some international parks "delivered improved results," Disney said.

Ben Barringer, technology and media analyst at Quilter Cheviot, said the parks results "pour fuel onto the fire" of concern about a slowing US economy.

"Coupled with other travel companies recognizing poor growth, it is clear people are scaling back their spend when it comes to tourism and recreation," Barringer said. "Some of this is due to Disneyland Paris struggling due to the Olympics being in town, as well as China going through its own economic problems, but the guide is not a positive one and thus we should expect further struggles through the rest of the year."

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Entertainment

Rescue Dog Yuri Steals Cannes Spotlight with Palm Dog’s Top Prize

Director Dominga Sotomayor Castillo pets the dog named Apocalypse who receives the Palm Dog award on-behalf of the dog named Yuri, winner of the award for his best canine performance in the film "La Perra" (La Chienne) presented at the Quinzaine des Cineastes (Directors' Fortnight), during the 79th Cannes Film Festival in Cannes, France, May 22, 2026. (Reuters)
Director Dominga Sotomayor Castillo pets the dog named Apocalypse who receives the Palm Dog award on-behalf of the dog named Yuri, winner of the award for his best canine performance in the film "La Perra" (La Chienne) presented at the Quinzaine des Cineastes (Directors' Fortnight), during the 79th Cannes Film Festival in Cannes, France, May 22, 2026. (Reuters)
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Rescue Dog Yuri Steals Cannes Spotlight with Palm Dog’s Top Prize

Director Dominga Sotomayor Castillo pets the dog named Apocalypse who receives the Palm Dog award on-behalf of the dog named Yuri, winner of the award for his best canine performance in the film "La Perra" (La Chienne) presented at the Quinzaine des Cineastes (Directors' Fortnight), during the 79th Cannes Film Festival in Cannes, France, May 22, 2026. (Reuters)
Director Dominga Sotomayor Castillo pets the dog named Apocalypse who receives the Palm Dog award on-behalf of the dog named Yuri, winner of the award for his best canine performance in the film "La Perra" (La Chienne) presented at the Quinzaine des Cineastes (Directors' Fortnight), during the 79th Cannes Film Festival in Cannes, France, May 22, 2026. (Reuters)

Cannes may be best known for its A-list stars, but Yuri the rescue dog stole the spotlight on Friday, winning the most anticipated unofficial award of the festival, the Palm Dog, for her performance in Chilean drama "La Perra."

Judges praised Yuri's naturalistic performance and her central contribution to the plot when picking the pooch, whose prize was a red collar emblazoned with "Palm Dog" on it.

Director Dominga Sotomayor Castillo took to the stage overlooking the clear blue waters of ‌the French Riviera ‌with another rescue dog named Apocalypse, who humbly ‌accepted ⁠the prize on Yuri's ⁠behalf, to claps and barks of approval.

The Palm Dog, a play on the festival's top prize, the Palme d'Or, has evolved from a cheeky sideshow event to a genuinely coveted prize since film journalist Toby Rose started it in 2001.

NATURALISTIC PERFORMANCE

"La Perra," which premiered in the Directors' Fortnight independent sidebar, revolves around a woman living on a remote Chilean island who impulsively ⁠adopts a puppy named Yuri.

"It's not a dog ‌doing lots of tricks. But it (the ‌film) really shows the bond and how this woman's life improves once Yuri, the ‌dog, comes into it," judge and film journalist Wendy Mitchell, wearing a ‌hat decorated with small plush dogs, told Reuters.

Another judge, Anna Smith, film critic, broadcaster and host of "Girls On Film" podcast, said the depiction of Yuri in the film was also key in their decision.

"As a jury member, I'm always ‌looking for a story where the dog is absolutely essential to the narrative," said Smith, who was similarly decked ⁠out in ⁠a dog-themed outfit.

Yuri beat six other competitors to take the top prize.

Another rescue dog, Lola, took the Grand Jury Prize for her role in the Birmingham-set drama about the lives of five friends, "I See Buildings Fall Like Lightning," that also premiered in the Directors' Fortnight sidebar.

"We are very strict in our criteria and what is a Palm Dog winning performance. The dogs over the years have been unbelievable," organizer Rose told Reuters after the award.

Past winners include Messi, the Border collie from Justine Triet's "Anatomy of a Fall," who converted his star power into a French TV show, as well as Uggie, a Jack Russell who helped launch a wider craze for the breed with "The Artist" in 2011.

Entertainment

'Fired and Festive': 'Late Show' Host Stephen Colbert Bows Out

CBS has said its decision to cancel "The Late Show," hosted by Stephen Colbert, was purely financial. Rich Fury / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP/File
CBS has said its decision to cancel "The Late Show," hosted by Stephen Colbert, was purely financial. Rich Fury / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP/File
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'Fired and Festive': 'Late Show' Host Stephen Colbert Bows Out

CBS has said its decision to cancel "The Late Show," hosted by Stephen Colbert, was purely financial. Rich Fury / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP/File
CBS has said its decision to cancel "The Late Show," hosted by Stephen Colbert, was purely financial. Rich Fury / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP/File

"The Late Show" frontman Stephen Colbert will host the final edition of the 33-year-old US cultural institution on Thursday night, after it was cancelled by CBS as the network courted President Donald Trump.

The show, which Colbert has hosted since 2015, was axed after he mocked the broadcaster for a $16 million settlement with Trump for allegedly "maliciously" editing an interview with his Democratic election rival Kamala Harris.

Colbert called it a "big fat bribe."

CBS has insisted the decision to cancel "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert," the ratings leader in the time slot, was purely financial -- and that it was a coincidence the move came as CBS parent company Paramount lobbied for government approval of its $8.4 billion merger with Skydance Media.

Around that time CBS brought in Bari Weiss, a right-wing journalist without significant TV experience, to run its news division, AFP reported.

In the weeks leading to Thursday's curtain call, 62-year-old Colbert has at times cut a subdued figure, lacking some of his usual cheerful flair.

"Sometimes you only truly know how much you love something when you get a sense you might be losing it," Colbert said while accepting an Emmy award last year.

Colbert was clearly moved when he was joined in his studio by fellow late night hosts Jimmy Fallon, Jimmy Kimmel, Seth Meyers and John Oliver, who paid tribute in the penultimate week.

Kimmel was briefly taken off the air in September 2025 by his network ABC after complaints about a remark he made over the killing of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.

Trump has repeatedly attacked media and press freedom since returning to office, using lawsuits and regulatory threats to retaliate for unflattering news coverage and jokes.

The US president has long been a fierce critic of late-night talk show hosts and their jabs at him. Trump has called Colbert a "pathetic trainwreck" who should be "put to sleep."

One late night host who did not join the gathering of funnymen who pillory the US president night after night was Greg Gutfeld, host of "Gutfeld!" on Fox News -- the network popular with conservatives.

Asked in November about both the cancellation and Kimmel's suspension, Gutfeld said, "Why did it take so long?"

- 'Can't take a man's voice' -

Colbert made his name playing a fictitious version of himself, embodying the type of conservative blowhard beloved by Fox News viewers -- and derided by the left.

He first played the sharp-suited but dim-witted character on "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart" before getting a spin-off, "The Colbert Report."

Colbert ascended to the pinnacle of US late-night TV when he was named host of the CBS flagship, shedding the character and employing his own voice.

In the weeks leading to Thursday, Colbert auctioned off a raft of props and costumes featured on the show, as well as pieces of set including a giant illuminated sign. Proceeds will go to World Central Kitchen.

Colbert has been coy about his next steps but announced he will be a writer on a forthcoming "Lord of the Rings" movie -- as well as lying down and taking a breather.

Details of the last broadcast were scant, with show insiders tight-lipped when contacted by AFP.

One guest has eluded Colbert: the pope. The host, a devout Catholic, has called the pontiff his "white whale."

While an impromptu trip to New York seems unlikely, Pope Leo XIV's public schedule is clear on May 21.

Colbert's fellow late-night hosts were all due to air re-runs Thursday out of respect for Colbert's swansong.

And the theme of the after-party? "Fired and festive!"

Ahead of the final show, Colbert brought back former "Late Show" host David Letterman who steered the ship from 1993 until 2015.

The pair ascended to the roof of the show's Ed Sullivan Theater to throw furniture at a giant logo of CBS, describing it as "wanton destruction of CBS property."

"You can take a man's show," said Letterman. "You can't take a man's voice."

Entertainment

Havana-born Star Andy Garcia Says Cubans Dream of Change

US actor Andy Garcia poses during a photocall of the film "Diamond" at the 79th edition of the Cannes Film Festival in Cannes, southern France on May 20, 2026. (Photo by Valery HACHE / AFP)
US actor Andy Garcia poses during a photocall of the film "Diamond" at the 79th edition of the Cannes Film Festival in Cannes, southern France on May 20, 2026. (Photo by Valery HACHE / AFP)
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Havana-born Star Andy Garcia Says Cubans Dream of Change

US actor Andy Garcia poses during a photocall of the film "Diamond" at the 79th edition of the Cannes Film Festival in Cannes, southern France on May 20, 2026. (Photo by Valery HACHE / AFP)
US actor Andy Garcia poses during a photocall of the film "Diamond" at the 79th edition of the Cannes Film Festival in Cannes, southern France on May 20, 2026. (Photo by Valery HACHE / AFP)

Havana-born Hollywood star Andy Garcia told AFP that the overwhelming majority of Cubans would support an intervention to overthrow their government as he presented his directorial debut at the Cannes Film Festival.

The star of films "The Godfather Part III" and "Ocean's Eleven" said he still woke up every morning dreaming of a Cuba "free from repression" after 67 years of communist rule on the island.

"Nobody wants war, but absolute repression and suffering of the people in that country is not the alternative, that's not something to embrace," he said during an interview on Tuesday to promote his film noir "Diamond" which features an A-list cast.

"If you were to ask the Cuban people, not the Cuban government... would they want us (the United States), France, anybody, to intervene and save them? You would get a unanimous 90 percent people saying, 'Please come and invade our country and get rid of these people'," Garcia said.

US President Donald Trump has imposed an oil blockade on Cuba, aggravating the impoverished island's worst economic and energy crisis in decades, while making repeated threats that the US might forcibly topple the government.

In Cuba, young people have told AFP privately they favor a US intervention, seeing it as the only chance to transform the island's fortunes, despite fears it would lead to bloodshed.

But older Cubans tend to reject the threats, pointing to over six decades of tensions between Havana and Washington that never bubbled over into open conflict, despite coming perilously close to a nuclear confrontation in 1962.

Garcia, 70, left Cuba as a child and his film "Diamond" serves as a sort of "love letter" to his adopted hometown Los Angeles where he has lived for most of his life.

His first turn behind the camera is a project 20 years in the making, based on an idea which started out as a homework project for his daughter.

It grew into a film about fedora-wearing and hard-drinking private detective Joe Diamond who is stuck in the past while trying to crack a case about a billionaire's death in contemporary Los Angeles.

Garcia's actor friends Bill Murray and Dustin Hoffman agreed to play roles as a barman and coroner, while the rest of the cast includes "The Whale" star Brendan Fraser as a detective, with Rosemarie DeWitt and Vicky Krieps the female leads.

Garcia said he had learned from many industry legends over his career, including "The Godfather" director Francis Ford Coppola who handed him his first major break in a once-stellar career that has stalled in recent decades.

"I always wanted to make movies, not just be in them," Garcia told AFP.

Reviews were mostly positive about his first effort, with Deadline calling it a "wonderfully atmospheric, nostalgic and entertaining contemporary noir". The Wrap said "at times it betrays its amateur beginnings with clunky plotting."