Operating profit at theme parks rose 9 percent to $922 billion in the third quarter as attendance and spending rose at U.S. parks.
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The increase in theatrical distribution reflected the strong performance of Marvel’s “Avengers: Age of Ultron” in the current quarter compared to Marvel’s “Captain America: The Winter Soldier” in the prior-year quarter. The company also slashed its outlook for cable TV profit. Wall Street was expecting earnings of $1.42 a share, according to a consensus estimate from Thomson Reuters.
“Star Wars” is expected to generate $2.2 billion for Disney globally when it is shown by the yearend that several analysts have made “buy” ratings for the company’s stocks which have enjoyed nearly 45 percent growth in the past 12 months.
Walt Disney Co. had a mixed third quarter with a strong performance in feature films but only single-digit growth in the media networks and theme park businesses.
Revenue rose to USD13.10 billion (101.57 billion) from USD12.47 billion (HKD96.69 billion).
On Tuesday, Disney Chief Executive Officer Bob Iger told analysts that ESPN had seen some “modest” subscriber losses but detailed the cable network’s strengths. Higher operating income was the result of a bump in merchandise licensing revenue and lower third-party royalty expenses.
Studio Entertainment revenues increased by 13% to $2.0 billion, with a 15% increase in operating income to $472 million. The stock slumped as much as 6.5 percent to $113.75 after results were announced late on Tuesday.
“Its deep pipeline of [intellectual property] driving momentum at the Studio and Consumer Products division and premier core media franchises suggest a premium multiple to Media stocks, but ecosystem pressures could drive volatility”, Banks wrote in a note.
“There has been some minsinformation that this was a recent purchase, but it was purchased more than a year ago”, Disney spokesperson Suzi Brown said. He added that because 96% of all sports in watched live, “we have enormous confidence in ESPN’s future no matter how technology disrupts the TV business”.
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Around 80 percent of ESPN’s subscriber losses, Iger said, “were due to decreases in multichannel households with only a small percentage due to skinny packages”.
