Disney is back from the Corona crisis with a jump in profit and sales.

After the pandemic temporarily paralyzed the entertainment empire of the Mickey Mouse group, the amusement parks were running smoothly again at the end of the year.

They caused Disney high costs during the Corona crisis and repeatedly messed up the balance sheet.

The streaming business was also booming.

CEO Bob Chapek sees the Disney+ video service on course for growth.

This brings relief to shareholders.

The stock gained about 7 percent in after-hours trading.

However, the course had also suffered a lot recently.

Disney easily exceeded the forecasts of the financial analysts with its quarterly figures.

In the three months to early January, revenue climbed 34 percent year-on-year to $21.8 billion (19.1 billion euros), as the group announced on Wednesday after the US stock market closed.

Bottom line, Disney earned $1.1 billion.

A year ago, the company suffered badly from the pandemic and only made $17 million in profit.

Disney+ already has more than 130 million subscribers

In particular, the streaming service Disney+, launched in November 2019, significantly exceeded forecasts with 11.8 million new subscribers in the quarter.

At the end of 2021, he already had almost 130 million customers.

Disney is sticking to the goal of increasing the number of subscribers to over 230 million by 2024.

For comparison: The big rival Netflix currently has almost 222 million.

He had recently disappointed with his quarterly figures and given a gloomy business outlook.

The subscriptions for the streaming services Hulu and ESPN+, which also belong to the group, also increased significantly year-on-year.

However, the business of all Disney streaming platforms remains in deficit.

The operating loss rose to 600 million dollars (525 million euros) in the past quarter.

Meanwhile, Disney's classic cable business threw off 13 percent less operating profit with stagnant revenues.

Parks bring $2.5 billion in profit

Ultimately, Disney benefited primarily from the theme park division, which had been almost completely canceled during the pandemic.

Here, the company doubled its revenue and earned $2.5 billion.

A year ago, a loss of 119 million dollars had hit the books.

The amusement parks in the USA are now operating again largely without restrictions.

The group has also ramped up film production again.

He has great "confidence that we will continue to determine the entertainment offering in the next 100 years," said Chapek.

The group, embracing Netflix's strategy, wants to invest more in content outside the US "that appeals to the unique flavors of these international markets," Chapek said.

The hope is to land "some global hits" with the local productions, like Netflix with "Squid Game" from South Korea and "Lupin" from France.