Universal Studios Claims Its Best Quarter Ever
Fifteen months ago, a trend grew painfully obvious.
Universal Studios placed the pandemic squared in its rearview mirror and proceeded on a path of explosive growth.
Photo:attractions magazine
Theme parks held that momentum during the late spring and early summer. Yes, by some evaluations, Universal Studios has claimed its best fiscal quarter ever.
Here’s what we just learned!
About Comcast
(Jeff Fusco/Comcast via AP Images)
As a reminder, Comcast works as the corporate overlord of NBCUniversal, owning the subsidiary company.
So, Comcast’s success is NBCUniversal’s and vice versa. Still, as the underling, NBCUniversal must sing for its supper.
Should this division perennially underachieve, Comcast would consider selling the whole thing, spinning off NBCUniversal, or stripping it for parts.
Photo: Comcast NBC Universal
As a corporate entity, Comcast just experienced an exceptional quarter, earning $30.5 billion in three months.
When you’re grossing more than $10 billion monthly, you’re doing pretty well, right?
Comcast’s net earnings were arguably even better. The $4.28 billion in profit in three months signifies 25 percent growth from the same quarter in 2022.
We’re talking about the timeframe of April, May, and June, which means that the 2022 numbers suffered somewhat due to the final days of the pandemic.
Still, that level of growth from a mature company is impressive. That’s especially true because Comcast’s total revenue only grew 1.7 percent.
The company is running a tighter ship this year than last since it’s not facing pandemic-related financial overhead.
Image: Associated Press
Not coincidentally, Comcast stock has gained five percent as I type this.
Everyone heard the good news and rushed to buy a larger ownership interest in Comcast.
Photo: NY Times
That’s a smart move when a company’s Consolidated Results page lists eight entries, and all of them have increased year-over-year.
I’m not exaggerating when I say that Comcast owes much of its growth to a single character, either.
The Mario Factor
Photo: Universal Japan
A few years ago, I discussed an odd phenomenon on a Disney site, MickeyBlog.
Black Panther proved so popular in late 2022 and early 2023 that you could spot its impact on the balance sheet.
For a film, that’s almost impossible to do…and you can probably guess where I’m going with this.
Photo: Nintendo.co/jp
Yes, during the most recent quarter, Comcast reaped the rewards of NBCUniversal’s prized theatrical release, The Super Mario Bros. Movie.
This film debuted on April 4th, right at the start of the quarter. It claimed all but $500k of its domestic box office during this quarter.
There’s no hiding that sort of success or stretching it out as a financial trick. Instead, Comcast got its money all at once.
Here’s the text straight from Investor Relations: “EBITDA Increased $258 Million to $255 Million.”
I try not to bore you with accounting stuff, but EBITDA stands for earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization.
On Wall Street, EBITDA best reflects a company’s strength of performance.
Photo: Universal Studios Hollywood
Corporations use this number as a baseline to evaluate businesses. And Mario just shocked the system.
For the same quarter in 2022, Universal’s Studios division held a negative EBITDA of $3 million.
Mario alone elevated this total to more than a quarter-billion! The Studios division went from being a drag on the company’s line to a massive positive.
That’s the power of Mario…but not all of it!
Let’s Talk about Theme Parks!
Photo: billboard.com
Comcast actually had a few flaws on its balance sheet, especially Peacock, which continues to drain financial resources.
The fledgling streaming service gained two million subscribers, but its losses swelled to $651 million.
In layperson’s terms, Peacock claims 1/6th the subscribers of Disney+, but their losses are roughly the same. That shouldn’t be possible.
Photo: Deadline
If not for the theme parks, Comcast would be shooting plenty of side-eye at its NBCUniversal subsidiary. There’s no danger of that, though.
I say this because the Theme Parks division absolutely obliterated its expectations.
During the latest quarter, Universal Studios grossed $2.209 billion, an explosive increase of 22.4 percent from last year’s $1.804 billion.
PhotoLjapancheapo.com
Yes, the parks grossed about $405 million more from April-June 2023 compared to April-June 2022.
Comcast was over the moon about this result. In fact, here’s a highlight from the fourth sentence of the complete earnings report:
“We generated the best quarterly Adjusted EBITDA ever at Theme Parks…”
Photo:themeparkhipster.com
Since we just discussed EBITDA, you know that it’s the best indicator of a business’ current performance.
Universal Studios has just delivered its strongest EBITDA ever! That’s how well Universal Studios is doing right now!
Later, the financial description lists the following:
Photo:universal
(Universal Studios delivered) “its Highest Adjusted EBITDA on Record, Reflecting Growth at Universal Beijing, Universal Japan and Universal Hollywood Compared to the Prior Year Period.”
Hey, why is Universal Studios Hollywood performing so well? Oh right, the park just added…Mario. That tiny plumber really can do anything!
Universal Studios Miscellany
Photo: Universal
The TL:DR here is that Universal Studios just made a LOT of money, arguably delivering the strongest fiscal quarter ever.
That record probably won’t last long, though. Universal Studios is currently undergoing expansion, especially in Orlando.
At one point, the financial document states:
Photo: Universal Orlando
“Content & Experiences’ capital expenditures increased 74.1% to $809 million, reflecting increased investment in constructing the Epic Universe theme park in Orlando, which is scheduled to open in 2025.”
You gotta spend money to make money, and Comcast is investing big time in the upcoming Epic Universe!
The lion’s share of that $809 million probably went straight to two places, Minion Land and Epic Universe. And let’s be honest that Minion Land probably didn’t cost much.
Comcast recognizes the explosive growth of its theme park division and is currently spending even more money to ensure future record-setting EBITDA!
That move is paying off financially. For the quarter, Universal Studios increased profits 31.8 percent to $833 million.
Universal summarized the entire business endeavor as follows:
Photo: Universal Orlando
(Earnings) “for Theme Parks increased, driven by higher revenue at our international theme parks, which had COVID-19 related restrictions in the prior year period.
“Domestic theme parks revenue remained consistent primarily due to higher revenue at our theme park in Hollywood driven by the opening of Super Nintendo World, offset by lower revenue at our theme park in Orlando, which continues to be above pre-pandemic levels.”
Folks, as you can see, Universal Studios is white-hot right now, and it’s poised for sustained future growth as well!
Thanks for visiting UniversalParksBlog.com! Want to go to Universal? For a FREE quote on your next Universal vacation, please fill out the form below and one of the agents from Let’s Adventure Travel will be in touch soon!
