Walt Disney Company Profits Up

[Ed]

Walt Disney Co. reports strong strong quarter of increasing revenue, profits
Scott Powers

Sentinel Staff Writer

4:20 PM EST, February 5, 2008

Against a backdrop of some of the most conflicting analysts forecasts it has faced lately, The Walt Disney Co. reported another strong quarter of increasing revenue and profits this afternoon, and beat expectations by offering diluted earnings of 63 cents per share, though that was lower than last year's offering.

"We've started off 2008 with another outstanding quarter, marked by strong creative and operational performances," Robert Iger, president and chief executive officer, stated in a news release. "These results once again highlight the quality of our content and our unique ability to leverage it across our many businesses and territories."

In Disney's first quarter, which ended Dec. 29, revenue was reported at $10.45 billion, up 9 percent for the quarter over the same three-month period in the 2006-07 fiscal year. Segment operating income was reported at $2.25 billion for the quarter, up 15 percent over the first quarter last year.

Disney reported a strong quarter for its parks and resorts segment, where revenue totaled $2.77 billion, up 11 percent over last year, and operating income reached $505 million, up 25 percent over last year.

The earnings offering for this first quarter of Disney's 2007-08 fiscal year was off 20 percent from the first quarter of the 2006-07 fiscal year, when 79 cents per share was offered.

Thomson / First Call's survey of analysts settled on a median forecast of 52 cents per share for this past quarter.

A wave of conflicting forecasts came out last week in anticipation of this earnings report. Some analysts, fearing the economic wobbles already were affecting Disney's theme parks, issued pessimistic reports, including one by Citi Investment Research analyst Jason B. Bazinet who downgraded his recommendation to "sell."

But after a brief sell-off of stock last week, Disney officials made an unusual response, calling media to profess that theme park hotel bookings were running ahead of the prior year's pace, a positive signal for theme park business.

Other analysts have weighed in with neutral or even buy recommendations for Disney stock. Richard Greenfield and Mark D. Smaldon of Pali Research upgraded their view following public statements by Disney Chief Financial Officer Thomas Staggs.

Scott Powers can be reached at [email protected] or 407-420-5441.

Copyright © 2008, Orlando Sentinel

[Marker]

Great!!! Wish I could say that about where I work.

A healthy Disney is happy Disney. They can't spend money if they're not making money.

[Scar]

Wednesday, Feb. 6 2008

Disney's Magic Lifts Market

Matt Egan
FOXBusiness


Wall Street has bounced back from yesterday's plunge thanks to strong earnings from Disney and a better-than-expected productivity report.


As of 12:14 p.m. EST, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 83.32 points, or 0.68% to 12348.61, the Standard & Poor’s 500 index gained 10.74 points, or 0.80% to 1347.38 and the Nasdaq Composite Index picked up 21.94 points, or 0.95%, to 2331.51. The consumer-friendly Fox 50 rose 5.52 points, or 0.58%, to 949.47.

Today Wall Street received some badly needed positive news about the economy: two media giants beat or met expectations for their quarterly earnings results, an economic report showed productivity held up better than expected at the end of 2007 and U.S. oil supplies rose sharply last week.

So far it’s been a tale of two weeks on Wall Street.

Last week’s performance was very strong thanks to a Federal Reserve rate cut. The Dow surged more than 530 points -- its best single-week performance in four years.

Nearly all of those big gains on the blue-chip index were erased through just the first two trading days of this week, with the Dow losing more than 475 points coming into today’s action. Tuesday's 2.9% loss on the Dow was its worst since February 27, 2007.


Hoping to reverse that trend, Wall Street opened with a 70-point jump on the Dow but fell from those highs and briefly turned negative before bouncing back. The market recently came off of the highs of the day, when the Dow was more than 120 points in the green.

Wall Street reacted positively to solid earnings from Dow component Disney (DIS: 31.74, +1.67, +5.55%) after yesterday’s closing bell. The entertainment giant showed little signs of an economic slowdown.

Not only did it easily beat the street by earning 63 cents a share in the first quarter, Disney’s theme park business posted an 11% jump in revenue. Traders and analysts had feared a slowdown among visitors to Disney’s parks due to new pressures on domestic consumers. The stock hit a new five-week high on the news.

(article continues with non-Disney info at Foxnews.com)