The Walt Disney Company held its quarterly earnings call this afternoon. The company beat profit expectations but the revenue numbers were not as impressive. The earnings per share for the quarter increased to $1.50 over the $1.41 that was expected. Revenue was reported as $13.34 billion versus the $13.45 billion that was expected. Stock prices fell nearly 2 percent in after-hours trading.

Bob Iger, Chief Executive Officer for the company, stated that “Disney delivered another quarter of double-digit EPS growth, driven by the strong performance of our Studio and Parks and Resorts. Our continued strong performance is a direct result of our proven strategic focus on great branded content, innovative technology and global growth. We’re pleased with our results in Q2 and remain confident in our ability to continue to deliver significant shareholder value over the long term.”

Media Networks revenues for the quarter increased 3% to $5.9 billion and segment operating income decreased 3% to $2.2 billion.

• Cable Networks revenues for the quarter increased 3% to $4.1 billion and operating income decreased 3% to $1.8 billion. The decrease in operating income was due to a decrease at ESPN (due to its higher programming costs), partially offset by increases at the Disney Channels and Freeform. Bob Iger defended the sports network, saying the company is “confident in ESPN‘s future.”
• Broadcasting revenues for the quarter increased 3% to $1.9 billion and operating income increased 14% to $344 million.  Higher operating income from program sales was driven by the sale of Iron Fist and higher sales of How to Get Away with Murder in the current quarter compared to the sale of Daredevil in the prior-year quarter.

Parks and Resorts revenues for the quarter increased 9% to $4.3 billion (vs. $4.27 billion expected) and segment operating income increased 20% to $750 million (vs. $726.4 million expected). Operating income growth for the quarter was due to the opening of Shanghai Disney Resort in the third quarter of the prior year and an increase at the domestic parks and resorts. Operating income growth at the domestic parks and resorts was due to higher volumes, driven by increased attendance and guest spending on food and beverage, as well as higher operating participant income from Disney Springs.

Studio Entertainment revenues for the quarter decreased 1% to $2.0 billion and segment operating income increased 21% to $656 million (vs. $528 million expected). Higher operating income was driven by growth in TV/SVOD distribution, lower film cost impairments and an increase in home entertainment results. These increases were partially offset by a lower revenue share from the Consumer Products & Interactive Media segment. The company credited a strong performance in their studio segment to “Beauty and the Beast“, which has crossed $1 billion in the global box office.

Consumer Products & Interactive Media revenues for the quarter decreased 11% to $1.1 billion and segment operating income increased 3% to $367 million. Higher operating income was due to an improvement at their games business driven by a favorable impact from the discontinuation of our Infinity console game business in the prior-year quarter. This benefit was largely offset by lower licensing results and a decline at our retail business.

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Source Credit : The Walt Disney Company and CNBC

Image Credit : WDW Info