Walt Disney Co. earnings: 5 things to know
Walt Disney Co., the world’s largest entertainment firm, has turned in another strong fiscal quarter, setting a new record for quarterly profit.
The Burbank company reported net income of $2.483 billion in its fiscal third quarter, up 11% from a year earlier. Revenue rose 5% to $13.1 billion.
Here are five noteworthy elements of the company’s results, which cover the three-month period ending June 27.
Beating expectations: Disney delivered earnings per share of $1.45, beating analysts’ estimates of $1.42. Earnings per share were 13% higher than a year ago. “The strong results across our many diverse lines of business demonstrate the power of our unparalleled brands, franchises and creative content,” Disney Chairman and Chief Executive Robert Iger said in a statement.
Movie moves: Despite releasing “Tomorrowland,” a George Clooney film that performed poorly, the studio division had a profitable quarter. It produced operating income of $472 million, up 15% from a year ago. The group’s performance was buoyed by “Avengers: Age of Ultron,” the Marvel superhero picture that has grossed $1.4 billion worldwide since hitting theaters May 1. Disney did not disclose how much money it lost on “Tomorrowland,” which was released May 22 and has taken in $208 million at the box office. It had an estimated budget of $190 million and cost tens of millions of dollars more to market. News reports have indicated that Disney could lose as much as $140 million on the Brad Bird-directed sci-fi film.
The winner: Disney’s media networks division regularly generates more operating income than any other unit at the company, and the third quarter results were no different. The division, whose cable networks group includes ESPN and the Disney Channel, produced operating income of $2.378 billion, up 4%. Disney partly attributed the results to affiliate revenue growth at ESPN.
Fifth place: Four of Disney’s five operating segments generated profits, but the company’s interactive division broke even. It had produced operating income of $29 million a year ago. Disney attributed the decrease to “lower results” from “Disney Infinity,” the company’s action-adventure video game.
Soaring stock: Shares of Disney rose 62 cents to close at $121.74 on Tuesday. That’s within a few cents of the stock’s all-time high of $122.08, which was set in midday trading. The stock is up 29% this year.
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