Disney Q2 Earnings Beat Expectations

Disney reported Tuesday profits exceeded analysts’ expectations and jumping 14% per share, powered by revenue of nearly $12.5 billion.

Disney’s earnings of $1.23 per share beat the analysts’ guess of $1.11, while the revenue figure pushed comfortably past a $12.25 billion projection and the $11.6 billion from the second quarter of 2014. The report, covering the first three months through the end of March, pushed Disney  shares (DIS) to new highs of more than $113 in early trading Tuesday, according to Variety.

Fueling the stellar performance were the company’s parks and resorts, which saw operating income jump 24% and its consumer products, where income leapt 32%. Only its media networks (off 2%) and its film studio (down 10%) were slightly off in terms of operating income — the latter as profits from the quarter’s “Big Hero 6″ could not keep pace with the 2014 blockbuster “Frozen.”

Disney chief executive Robert Iger touted “the incredible ability of our strong brands and quality content to drive results,” adding in his statement that the company’s “winning combination” was on display with its current film release “Avengers: Age of Ultron,” whose opening of $187 million represents the second best on record.

Robert Iger

The company’s cable networks saw income drop 9% to $1.8 billion because of declines at ESPN. The company reported that programming and production costs had increased—partly due to the higher cost of college football rights, the start-up of the SEC Network and the high price of televising the first-ever college football national championship playoff.

But ESPN’s challenges were partly offset by gains at ABC, which has seen its ratings increase,  partly on the strength of new series like the drama “How to Get Away with Murder” and the comedy “Black-ish.” Overall, ABC had seven of the top 20 rated series and three of the top five dramas – putting it in a strong position going into next week’s up-front presentations to advertisers.

Disney’s broadcast properties shined, with income up 90% to $302 million, mostly on higher fees from affiliates, increased program sales and a jump in ad revenues. Iger told analysts that, while welcoming ad growth, his company was becoming less dependent on it. Some 16% of its overall revenue comes from ads, Iger said, “so our exposure to … changes is a lot less than a lot of the other media companies.”

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