Disney stock jumped more than 10% during morning trading on Thursday (Feb. 8) as investors welcomed announcements from the media conglomerate about new partnerships with Taylor Swift and Fortnite maker Epic Games. The announcements followed a strong first quarter earnings report from the company.
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Disney CEO Bob Iger announced on a Wednesday (Feb. 7) call with investors that Disney+ will be the exclusive streaming home of Taylor Swift’s concert film, Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour. The film will debut on the platform on March 15 and will include additional songs not featured in its theatrical release.
This isn’t the first time Swift’s concert film helped move a company’s shares: In October, AMC stock jumped over 10% after advanced ticket sales of the film.
Iger also announced a new partnership with Epic Games, in which Disney is investing $1.5 billion for an equity stake of the video game company. The two companies will collaborate on new games and an entertainment universe featuring Disney intellectual properties like Pixar, Marvel and Star Wars. Epic Games produces the mega-popular online game Fortnite, which has over 350 million accounts.
For sports fans, Disney announced a new joint live-sports streaming venture with Fox and Warner Bros. Discovery, and an ESPN standalone streaming service is also set to launch in 2025.
Disney’s first quarter by the numbers
Disney’s net income rose 32% to $1.9 billion in the three months ending on Dec. 30, compared with $1.3 billion in the same period the year prior. The company’s revenue in the first fiscal quarter remained flat year-over year to over $23.5 billion. Its earnings per share came to $1.22, outperforming Wall Street expectations of $0.99 according to a consensus estimate from analysts surveyed by Factset.
