• Disney (DIS) is ranked fourth in paid streaming services based on subscription numbers.
• Disney will have a hard time raising prices in the face of competition.
• The streaming skies are getting cloudier for DIS stock.

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The bad news is that Walt Disney (NYSE:DIS) stock is down about 37% so far in 2022. The good news is it is now worth twice as much as Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX). While Disney’s battle with Florida Governor Ron DeSantis is grabbing the headlines, the Mouse House has a bigger problem: The streaming business has crashed.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) is down 11.1% this year. Paramount Global (NASDAQ:PARA) is down almost 30% over the past year. Even mighty Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) missed estimates because YouTube revenue came up short.

Can DIS stock succeed without streaming profits?

Streaming Red Ink

Disney grabbed market share in streaming by bundling its Hulu+, Disney+, and ESPN+ streaming services at $14 per month. Netflix’ standard plan now costs $15.49. Disney+ costs $8 by itself.

Disney says it now has 130 million streaming subscribers worldwide. Even after its down quarter, Netflix still has over 220 million. Disney+ lost $593 million during its most recent quarter on revenue of $4.7 billion. Netflix made about $1.6 billion.

If this were all Disney had to worry about, it could simply match Netflix’s recent price hike and quickly turn red ink into black. But that would risk losses to Comcast’s Peacock, to Warner Brother Discovery’s (NASDAQ:WBD) HBO Max and to Paramount’s Paramount+. All of these companies see streaming as essential to their survival.

The Cloud Threat for DIS Stock

There’s a bigger threat to Disney’s streaming success. That comes in the form of the Cloud Czars, each of which is big enough to swallow Disney whole without an antacid.

Start with YouTube, which is free and has 2.6 billion users and 122 million people watching at least once a day. YouTube’s ad revenue of $6.87 billion last quarter was almost 50% more than Disney’s total streaming revenue.

Then there’s Amazon.Com’s (NASDAQ:AMZN) Amazon Prime, which has over 200 million members worldwide. Customers can now buy the streaming service alone for $9 per month. It is also rebranding its free streaming service, formerly IMDB, as Amazon FreeVee and buying original programming.

The 800-pound gorilla in the space, however, is Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL), with its $2.59 trillion market cap. While it was very late to the streaming party, Apple TV+ already has 5.6% of the market. That’s right behind Warner Brother Discovery’s HBO Max.

Disney’s Strengths

Disney still has some major strengths.

The combined share of Disney Bundle viewing exceeds that of Amazon in the U.S. ESPN still has more sports rights than rivals. Disney owns key intellectual property in Marvel, Star Wars, Fox, and its own Disney library. Disney made $7.7 billion in revenue last quarter from its broadcasting and cable operations, which include ESPN and ABC. Total revenue last quarter was $21.8 billion as its parks came back online.

Disney is expected to earn $1.20 per share for the most recent quarter, which will be reported on May 11. If it can maintain at that pace for the full year, the forward price-to-earnings ratio will be 24.

Disney is in much better shape than its former rivals. It isn’t burdened by the cable capital expenses of Comcast. It’s much larger than either Warner Brother Discovery or Paramount. It doesn’t have to cut its budget for programming. It can also monetize its intellectual property better, thanks to its parks and cruise boats.

The Bottom Line on DIS Stock

Disney is in a new financial league. It can be outbid in sports, as Apple has just done with baseball and Amazon is doing with football. It can be outplayed in entertainment, as Apple is proving with Ted Lasso and Severance. It is behind Alphabet, Amazon and Netflix.

Disney has climbed many mountains to become dominant in broadcasting, cable and now streaming. But the peaks it faces are higher still and the market is increasingly skeptical.

On the date of publication, Dana Blankenhorn held long positions in AAPL, GOOGL, and AMZN. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer, subject to the InvestorPlace.com Publishing Guidelines.