Revenue, expenses, and profits of companies' DTC segments — 2026

Revenues, expenses, and operating profits/losses of DTC businesses — selected media companies FY2025

The financial trajectory of streaming DTC businesses has been one of the most dramatic in corporate history. In FY2022, the combined DTC losses across major media companies were estimated at over $10 billion, Disney alone lost $4 billion in its DTC segment that year.

By FY2025, the picture has fundamentally changed: Netflix generates $13.33 billion in operating income, Disney's DTC segment turned $1.33 billion in profit, and Warner Bros. Discovery is tracking toward $1.3 billion in streaming EBITDA.

The combined swing in streaming profitability from 2022 to 2025 is estimated at approximately $25 billion, arguably the fastest large-scale financial transformation in media industry history. The subscriber context for these financial results is in our SVOD subscribers worldwide analysis.

The profitability transformation has been driven by four parallel forces: subscriber growth spreading fixed content costs over more paying members; price increases driving revenue per subscriber higher with minimal incremental cost; advertising revenue growth adding high-margin income to the existing subscriber base; and content cost discipline, all major streamers have shifted from "quantity" to "quality" content strategies, reducing the number of titles produced while increasing investment per title and eliminating expensive low-performing content.

The ad-supported tier context for this revenue shift is in our ad-supported VOD subscribers analysis.

DTC Segment Financials — Revenue, Expenses, and Profit/Loss — All Companies FY2025

The table below shows DTC financial data for all major streaming companies in their most recent full fiscal year. Netflix and Disney figures are GAAP operating income from SEC filings. WBD and Paramount figures are non-GAAP adjusted EBITDA/OIBDA. Peacock figures are estimates from Comcast earnings commentary. The broader market valuation context is in our largest internet companies by market cap analysis.

Netflix — $45.18B Revenue, $13.33B Operating Income, 29.5% Margin — SEC Confirmed

Netflix's FY2025 financial results are the benchmark against which all other streaming DTC businesses are measured. The company generated $45.18 billion in total revenue and $13.33 billion in GAAP operating income at a 29.5% operating margin, all confirmed from the Netflix SEC 8-K filed January 21, 2026.

Netflix's cost structure in FY2025 included approximately $22.9 billion in cost of revenues (content amortization, CDN, customer service), $3.30 billion in sales and marketing, approximately $4.6 billion in technology and development, and approximately $2.0 billion in G&A, totalling approximately $31.85 billion in operating costs.

The detailed cost breakdown is in our Netflix cost of revenues analysis and Netflix marketing expenditure analysis.

Netflix's margin trajectory tells the story of the company's maturing business model: from approximately 4-7% operating margins in the 2013-2016 era, to near-breakeven in 2017-2019 as content investment accelerated, to the current 29.5% in 2025 as subscriber scale and advertising revenue drive operating leverage.

Each additional subscriber after the fixed content cost base is covered contributes nearly fully to margin. Netflix's 2026 target of 31.5% operating margin implies further improvement, driven primarily by advertising revenue growth from $1.5 billion in 2025 to $3+ billion in 2026. Netflix's revenue context is in our Netflix revenue statistics analysis.

Disney DTC — $24.614B Revenue, $1.327B Operating Income — SEC 10-K Confirmed

Disney's Direct-to-Consumer segment (Disney+, Hulu, and ESPN+) delivered $24.614 billion in revenue and $1.327 billion in operating income in FY2025 (ending September 27, 2025), both confirmed directly from the Disney SEC 10-K FY2025 filed November 2025.

Revenue breakdown: subscription fees $20.772 billion (+11% from $18.796 billion in FY2024), advertising $3.684 billion (-1% from $3.707 billion in FY2024), and other $158 million. Cost breakdown: operating expenses $18.263 billion, SG&A $4.658 billion, and D&A $366 million, totalling $23.287 billion in costs.

CEO Bob Iger characterised the result: "Not bad, considering DTC was running with a $4 billion annual operating loss just three years ago." The DTC operating income of $1.327 billion compares to just $143 million in FY2024, a 828% improvement year-on-year. The Disney+ subscriber context is in our Disney Plus statistics and facts analysis.

Disney's DTC operating margin of approximately 5.4% in FY2025 reflects the platform's earlier stage of monetisation relative to Netflix (29.5% margin).

The gap reflects three structural differences: Disney+'s lower ARPU ($8.04/month vs Netflix's ~$11.70/month globally), Disney's content obligation to maintain its IP franchises (Marvel, Star Wars, Pixar) at premium production costs, and the overlap between Disney+, Hulu, and ESPN+ which creates some cost duplication.

Disney's FY2026 content spend is guided at approximately $24 billion (up from $23 billion in FY2025), reflecting the NBA rights deal beginning in the new basketball season. Disney management targets continued DTC margin improvement toward a long-term target of 10%+ SVOD operating margin by FY2026. The full Disney DTC profitability history is in our Disney Plus statistics.

WBD (Max) — ~$1.3B Streaming Adj EBITDA FY2025, Third Consecutive Profitable Year

Warner Bros. Discovery's streaming segment (Max + Discovery+) is on track for approximately $1.3 billion in adjusted EBITDA in FY2025, management's explicit guidance confirmed in the Q4 2024 shareholder letter (Deadline, February 2025). Q1 2025 streaming revenue was $2.656 billion (+9% YoY) with $339 million in adj EBITDA, confirmed from WBD SEC 8-K Q1 2025.

Q3 2025 streaming revenue was $2.633 billion with $345 million in adj EBITDA, confirmed from WBD SEC 8-K Q3 2025. WBD's streaming segment became profitable for the first time in 2023 ($103 million adj EBITDA, Hollywood Reporter), grew to $677 million in 2024 (Hollywood Reporter, February 2025), and is now targeting $1.3 billion in 2025, a remarkable trajectory.

WBD targets at least 150 million global subscribers (currently 128 million) by end of 2026. The broader context of streaming subscriber counts is in our SVOD subscribers worldwide analysis.

Paramount DTC — Approaching Profitability, H1 2025 Adj OIBDA +$48M (SEC Confirmed)

Paramount's Direct-to-Consumer segment (Paramount+ and Pluto TV) confirmed in its SEC 8-K Q2 2025 filing that H1 2025 DTC revenue was $4.204 billion (+12% from $3.759 billion in H1 2024) and adjusted OIBDA was +$48 million, the first positive H1 DTC result in Paramount's streaming history.

Q2 2025 DTC revenue alone was $2.160 billion (+15% YoY) with $157 million in adj OIBDA (+504% YoY). Subscription revenue grew 22% YoY in Q2 2025, driven by Paramount+ subscriber growth and pricing increases.

For full year 2025, Paramount's DTC adj OIBDA is estimated at approximately $150-200 million, a significant turnaround from losses of approximately $1.7 billion in 2022. The Skydance-Paramount merger, which completed in 2025, creates new strategic options for Paramount+ distribution. Paramount+ reached 77.7 million subscribers as of June 2025. The ad-supported streaming context is in our ad-supported VOD analysis.

Peacock — ~$4.9B Revenue, Still Loss-Making in FY2025 Despite Sports Investment

Peacock (Comcast/NBCUniversal) is the only major Western streaming service still significantly loss-making in FY2025. Despite generating an estimated $4.9 billion in revenue in 2025 (Q1 2025 revenue: $1.2 billion, +20% YoY, Comcast earnings), Peacock's aggressive sports rights investment keeps it deeply in the red.

NFL Sunday Night Football (exclusive Sunday Night Football rights), the Premier League, Paris Olympics broadcasting, and WWE Raw rights all contribute to a content cost base that exceeds revenue. Deadline (April 2026) confirmed Peacock ended 2025 with 44 million subscribers but "posted wider losses due to sports rights costs." Comcast has not disclosed a timeline for Peacock profitability.

The platform's sports-heavy strategy differs fundamentally from Netflix and Disney+'s scripted content model. The broader streaming market context is in our streaming statistics analysis.

The Streaming Industry's $25B Profitability Swing — From 2022 Losses to 2025 Profits

The chart above captures the most dramatic financial reversal in media industry history. Disney's DTC segment went from a $4 billion annual loss in FY2022 to a $1.327 billion profit in FY2025, a $5.3 billion swing in three years.

WBD's streaming segment swung from approximately -$2.1 billion in 2022 to a projected $1.3 billion in 2025, a $3.4 billion swing. Netflix, already profitable in 2022 with $4.49 billion in net income, improved further to $13.33 billion in operating income in 2025, an additional $8.8 billion in operating income.

Combined, these three companies alone represent approximately a $17.5 billion improvement in annual streaming profitability from 2022 to 2025. Adding Paramount's improvement of approximately $2 billion and excluding Peacock's continued losses, the industry-wide net swing is approximately $17-20 billion, confirming that the streaming business model works at scale.

The financial performance context for these companies is in our Netflix net income analysis.

DTC Segment Financials — Key Statistics and Facts FY2025

FY2026 Outlook — Netflix Targets 31.5% Margin, Disney 10%, WBD 150M Subscribers

The streaming profitability narrative will accelerate in FY2026. Netflix has guided revenue of $50.7-51.7 billion (+12-14%) and an operating margin of 31.5%, implying approximately $16 billion in operating income.

Disney's DTC content spend rises to approximately $24 billion in FY2026 (up from ~$23 billion in FY2025, primarily due to NBA rights), but subscription revenue growth and advertising expansion are expected to deliver continued operating income improvement toward a 10%+ SVOD margin target.

WBD targets at least 150 million subscribers by end 2026 (currently 128 million) and is expected to grow streaming EBITDA beyond the $1.3 billion FY2025 target. Paramount's DTC is expected to reach full-year profitability in 2025 for the first time, building on its H1 2025 momentum.

The key wildcard is Peacock, its sports rights spending escalates further in 2026, and without a clear subscriber scale target or profitability timeline from Comcast management, its losses may widen before improving. The global streaming revenue context is in our Netflix revenue by region analysis.

Frequently Asked Questions — DTC Segment Financials 2025-2026