Disney had a quarter full of records. But a YouTube dispute and tourism weigh on the stock

Disney $DIS just delivered a strong quarter, with total revenue topping $26 billion and the search for CEO Bob Iger’s replacement apparently in its final innings. Still, the stock fell 7% on the news, even as the broader market rose.

Here's what to know.

Disney’s hit parade

The words “highest,” "most," and “record” make appearances throughout Iger’s shareholder letter, with particular attention given to the success of "Zootopia 2" and "Avatar: Fire and Ash."

"Zootopia 2," Iger noted, “became Hollywood’s highest-grossing animated film ever and one of the top ten highest-grossing films of all time,” earning over $1.8 billion in worldwide box-office receipts, with roughly $630 million from China alone. This record performance at the Chinese box office helped drive attendance at Shanghai Disneyland, Iger noted.

In all, Disney earned $6.5 billion at the box office in the quarter. Iger further noted that only 60 films have ever earned $1 billion at the box office, and that it has been responsible for more than half of those 60. And this figure should continue to grow with "Toy Story 5," a live-action "Moana," another "Star Wars" franchise film, and an "Avengers" film all due out this calendar year.

Disney also counted seven of the 10-most watched shows of 2025, with "Bluey" a leading the pack with a total of 45 billion minutes watched. It’s Bluey’s second year in the top spot.

ESPN delivered notably good numbers, too, with the “most-watched college football regular season since 2011 and ABC achieved its best college football season since 2006, with the College Football National Championship reaching 30.1 million viewers and becoming the second most-viewed cable event ever.” Another record came with ESPN's NFL divisional round game drawing 38 million viewers, making it the most-watched event in Disney's history.

Dark spots in the quarter weighing on the stock

Even as segment totals came in high, and the Experiences division recorded its highest first-quarter revenue ever, Disney’s operating profits and earnings-per-share declined. A dispute with YouTube over carriage fees — resolved during the quarter — helps explain it. Expenses also crept up as the sheer number of film releases came in above the same quarter last year.

Iger carefully noted certain “international visitation headwinds at our domestic parks,” saying that “we continue to monitor international visitation to our domestic parks and adjust our strategy.” It’s an oblique nod to a political reality that has seen international tourism to the U.S. falling.

Tourism to the U.S. began falling a few months after President Donald Trump assumed office, and declined for eight straights months through December of last year. Even as global tourism hit record numbers, U.S. visits were down by 6% for the year.