Walt Disney exceeded Wall Street's earnings expectations on Wednesday as higher attendance at its Shanghai and Hong Kong theme parks offset a decline in advertising revenue at television network ABC.
Shares of the entertainment company rose 3% in after-hours trading to $87.14, signaling investor confidence in CEO Bob Iger's aggressive cost-cutting, the company's better-than-expected streaming subscriber gains, and Iger's declaration that Disney had moved into a "building" phase again.
The company also plans to ask its board to reinstate a dividend payment to shareholders by the end of 2023, interim Chief Financial Officer Kevin Lansberry said.