Netflix Vs. Walt Disney: Netflix Prints Cold Hard Cash While Disney Bleeds to Fund Parks and Linear Cable Remnants

Alex Sirois

Sat, July 4, 2026 astatine 8:39 AM CDT 3 min read

Quick Read

• Netflix (NFLX) printed $5 cardinal successful escaped currency travel connected $196 cardinal capex; Disney (DIS) burned $2 cardinal successful capex arsenic nett income fell 25%.

• Netflix's 31% operating borderline people dwarfs Disney's 11% streaming margin, reinforcing that the streaming wars are implicit and Netflix won.

• Act now: the expert who called NVIDIA successful 2010 conscionable named his apical 10 AI stocks — and Netflix didn't marque the cut. Grab the names FREE today.

Netflix (NASDAQ: NFLX) and Walt Disney (NYSE: DIS) conscionable reported quarters showing 2 other concern models down the aforesaid word: streaming. Netflix delivered an asset-light currency haul. Disney posted a grounds parks 4th and streaming profitability inflection, but carried a dense superior bill. The opposition matters arsenic discretionary budgets tighten.

Netflix Squeezes Cash. Disney Buys Cruise Ships.

Netflix enactment up Q1 2026 gross of $12.25 billion, up 16.19% twelvemonth implicit year, and escaped currency travel of $5.09 cardinal connected conscionable $196.1 cardinal of capex. The advertisement tier drew implicit 60% of sign-ups successful ads markets, with advertiser number climbing 70% to much than 4,000 clients. A $2.8 cardinal Warner Bros. termination interest juiced the headline, but the operating motor was already humming.

Disney's Q2 FY2026 told a antithetic story. Revenue reached $25.17 billion, up 6.55%, with adjusted EPS of $1.57 beating the $1.4955 estimate. Entertainment SVOD operating income surged 88% to $582 million, hitting a 10.6% borderline for the archetypal time. Experiences acceptable a Q2 grounds astatine $9.49 billion. The catch: capex of $1.97 cardinal and nett income that fell 24.73% twelvemonth implicit year.

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One Walks Away. One Doubles Down.

Netflix collected its breakup check, restarted buybacks, and stayed disciplined. The institution repurchased 13.5 cardinal shares for $1.3 cardinal with $6.8 cardinal inactive authorized, and raised 2026 escaped currency travel guidance to astir $12.5 billion. Japan led the quarter, with the World Baseball Classic becoming the most-watched Netflix programme ever successful that country.

Disney went the different way. ESPN acquired NFL Network for a 10% noncontrolling involvement successful ESPN, Hulu Live TV merged into Fubo astatine 70% Disney ownership, and the Disney Adventure cruise launched successful Singapore. FY2025 capex deed $8.02 billion, a 48% jump. Sports operating income is expected to diminution astir 14% twelvemonth implicit twelvemonth successful Q3 connected programming costs.