The theme park and media Walt Disney Co reported its quarterly profit, meeting the Wall Street forecast as the company’s box-office films “Guardians of the Galaxy” and “Maleficent” boosted its performance.
During the recent quarters, Disney has been beating analysts forecast, but its shares dropped 2.5% on Thursday during the after-hours tradeoff. The company stock closed at 92 dollars before the reported earnings.
Company CEO Bob Iger said Disney will not rush offering standalone subscriptions outside traditional bundles, which are offered by cable and satellite companies. He also said the company didn’t feel any compelling need for products that are direct challenges towards multichannel bundle.
Thus, the company would tryout with online products such as ESPN streaming service, but only for some of NBA games. Iger said that would be a bright approach as it will boost the company’s digital offerings.
Disney’s net income during the quarter ended September jumped 1.50 billion dollars or 80-cent a share from the previous year’s 1.39 billion dollars or 77-cent per share. Based on adjustments, company earnings were at 89-cent per share, meeting analysts’ expectations.
The generation of income was helped by its blockbuster movies “Maleficent” and “Guardians of the Galaxy”, creating 254 million dollars.
Disney’s largest unit, its cable networks, drove the company shares lower than expectations. Brett Harriss, analyst of Gabelli & Company said there was a weakening in cable networks. Harris also expected, ESPN to compensate Disney’s programming expenses because of higher fees collected from affiliates.
The park and resort unit’s operating income jumped 20% to 687 million dollars as attendance and ticket prices increased.
Disney’s revenue increased to 12.39 billion dollars, above average expectations of 12.37 billion. Up until Thursday’s close, the company shares earned 20% throughout the year.