Shares of The Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS) have been relatively flat over the last year, with a current 2.7% gain in the last 52 weeks. But strong box office results in the last two calendar months of 2025 could help the company's first-quarter financial results.
Disney's Box Office Billions
Disney ended calendar 2025 with two of the most anticipated films of the year in "Zootopia 2" and "Avatar: Fire and Ash."
Both films have grossed over $1 billion worldwide, making Disney the only American studio to have a billion-dollar global film in each of the last two years.
"Zootopia 2" grossed $1.59 billion worldwide in 2025. It ranks second, trailing only the Chinese film "Ne Zha 2," which grossed over $2 billion in China.
"Avatar: Fire and Ash" has grossed $1.083 billion worldwide in its first 18 days of release, a notable milestone for the film industry. The film has grossed $306 million domestically and $777.1 million internationally.
The film from James Cameron is the third installment in the Avatar franchise and a potential blockbuster for Disney. While the film is tracking to potentially hit the $2 billion milestone hit by the previous films in the franchise, it is currently pacing behind, according to Variety.
The 2009 "Avatar" film hit the $1 billion global box office milestone in 17 days and went on to hit $2.9 billion in worldwide box office. The sequel "Avatar: The Way of Water," released in 2022, hit the $1 billion milestone in 14 days and went on to hit $2.3 billion in worldwide box office.
"Avatar: Fire and Ash" ended 2025 as the 10th highest-grossing film domestically and a top 10-grossing film worldwide despite the December release. This gave Disney four of the top 10 grossing films in 2025 domestically and three of the top 10 highest grossing films worldwide.
Disney's First Quarter Financial Results On Deck
While the story for Disney's fourth-quarter financial results was streaming, the story for the upcoming first-quarter results could focus more on box office success.
Disney's first quarter covers the months of October, November and December. This year's first-quarter results will include the success of "Zootopia 2" and the early success of "Avatar: Fire and Ash."
Those two films will likely show strong year-over-year growth versus a period from last year that included "Moana 2."
Disney could also provide early expectations for whether the company believes the third Avatar film could reach the $2 billion milestone. Only seven films have reached $2 billion or more in worldwide box office, with two of them being the first two Avatar films and three others from Disney.
Analysts expect Disney to report first-quarter revenue of $25.65 billion, up from $24.69 billion in last year's first quarter, according to data from Benzinga Pro. Analysts expect earnings per share of $1.57 for the quarter, down from $1.76 in last year's first quarter.
Disney beat analyst estimates for earnings per share in 10 straight quarters. Its revenue, however, has been more of a struggle, with the company beating estimates in only four of the last 10 quarters.
Disney Stock Price Action
Disney shares were up 2% to $114.07 on Monday versus a 52-week trading range of $80.10 to $124.69. Disney shares are up 2.7% over the last 52 weeks.
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