[Source: Reuters Business]

Walt Disney Co’s quarterly revenue growth is expected to hit its lowest in nearly two years.

This underlines the hurdles that Chief Executive Bob Iger faces in revitalizing a company that is now caught in what could be a long strike by Hollywood writers.

The results, slated for Wednesday, will mark the first full quarter since Iger returned in November to kick off an overhaul that has seen the company outline 7,000 job cuts, lower theme park ticket prices and prioritize streaming profitability.

Disney is also embroiled in a legal fight with Florida Governor Ron DeSantis over state efforts to control Disney World. Last week, DeSantis signed a bill into law that gives a new board he controls the power to void development agreements its predecessor body signed with Disney.

The Hollywood writers’ strike has added to the uncertainty, though analysts said streaming services are “best positioned” during the strike as many of them have a stockpile of content.

The media and entertainment giant’s Disney+ streaming service is expected to add a net 1.3 million subscribers in the second quarter, compared with additions of 7.9 million a year ago, according to Visible Alpha.

The streaming unit’s operating loss is expected to widen to about $750 million from a loss of nearly $670 million a year earlier.

The losses will likely be cushioned by a strong showing for Disney’s parks, experiences and products unit, where revenue is set to jump 14%, while operating profit for the division is likely to rise 20%.

Overall revenue for Disney is expected to rise 7.5% from $20.27 billion a year earlier, according to Refinitiv data, when there was a $1 billion revenue reduction due to an early contract license termination.

That would mark the slowest growth since the second quarter of 2021, as the company’s cable business also takes a hit from an ad market slowdown.

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