Walt Disney Co. is making massive strides toward making its streaming business profitable, a milestone that comes none too soon as its traditional TV networks continue to decline.

The Burbank media and entertainment giant reported overall streaming business revenue of $6.19 billion for the second fiscal quarter of 2024, up 12% compared with a year earlier. Disney’s streaming business — which includes Disney+, Hulu and ESPN+ — reported an operating loss of $18 million for the three-month period that ended March 30, a 97% change from last year, when it reported losing $659 million.

The company’s “entertainment streaming” business, which consists only of Disney+ and Hulu (and not ESPN+), was profitable during the quarter, notching operating income of $47 million, compared with a loss of $587 million a year earlier. Excluding ESPN+, streaming revenue of $5.64 billion was up 13% from a year earlier.

Overall, Disney generated $22.1 billion in revenue that quarter, up 1% from the same period a year earlier. Sales came in roughly in line with analysts’ estimates, according to FactSet. Earnings, excluding certain items, were $1.21 per share, up from 93 cents a year earlier and better than the $1.10 that analysts had predicted, on average.

Disney Chief Executive Bob Iger noted the growth in streaming in a statement, saying that the business, in addition to the company’s continued strength in experiences, which includes its amusement parks, drove the company’s second-quarter performance.

Disney’s investment in streaming, which accelerated to grow the Disney+ service that launched in 2019, has lost billions of dollars to date. The company expects its combined streaming operations to finally turn a profit in the fiscal fourth quarter of 2024.

This marks Disney’s first quarterly earnings report since Iger trounced activist investor Nelson Peltz in a proxy fight, in which Peltz had sought a board seat. Investors, in a vote tallied at Disney’s annual shareholder meeting in April, decisively rejected Peltz’s bid.

Peltz, among other things, had demanded that Disney show a realistic plan for Netflix-like profit margins in the costly streaming business. To get Disney closer to its profitability goals, Iger waged a severe cost-cutting plan, eliminating more than 8,000 jobs.

“Looking at our company as a whole, it’s clear that the turnaround and growth initiatives we set in motion last year have continued to yield positive results,” Iger said in a statement.

Although Disney’s streaming business was a bright spot for its entertainment segment, the company’s linear TV business struggled in the quarter, reporting $2.77 billion in revenue, a decrease of 8% compared with a year earlier. The linear networks reported operating income of $752 million, down about 22% from the same period last year.

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