Shares of Walt Disney Co. dropped eight percent on Wednesday following the release of its unfavorable third-quarter results.
The multinational mass media conglomerate's revenue was unable to reach analyst estimates for that period. Walt Disney made $13.1 billion in revenue, trailing behind the projected $13.2 billion total, USA Today reports.
Despite this loss, the company's leadership expects profits to increase as changes will soon be introduced into the Walt Disney's marketing model.
"The reduced subscriber growth is an ongoing industry trend," Jefferies analyst wrote of their loss, USA Today also reports.
"However, with ESPN's largely fixed programming slate (i.e., sports rights), the impact on (earnings before interest and taxes) will be slightly more pronounced vs. peers."
Several months ago Walt Disney's quarterly profits surpassed estimates postulated by analysts at that time, mainly due to revenue coming in from consumer products and theme park locations, the Financial Times reports.
Although company officials have been focusing on the successful completion of a new theme park in Shanghai, they are also directing their energies toward expanding their movie production industry, which has fared well in recent months.
Walt Disney's headline film "Avengers: Age of Ultron," which was released earlier this year, has already generated approximately $650 million worldwide. The company's upcoming "Star Wars" movie is also expected to rake in millions in profits.
"There's a whole generation out there that isn't as steeped in Star Wars lore and there are [theatrical] markets that weren't as developed 10 years ago when the last films came out," Walt Disney Chief Executive Officer Bob Iger said, according to the Financial Times.
"China, for instance, was barely developed and is now the number two market in the world."
