The Walt Disney Company (DIS – Analyst Report) posted slightly mixed earnings and revenues for its fiscal Q3 2015 after the market close on Tuesday. Earnings of $1.45 per share topped the Zacks consensus estimate of $1.39. Revenues came in a tad light of expectations at $13.1 billion; the Zacks consensus estimate was for $13.17 billion in revenues. But nearly across the board the entertainment giant posted growth, with the exception of the smaller Interactive division.
The revenue miss looks to be related to foreign exchange concerns in Europe; Disney Paris is the only hindrance in the otherwise strong Parks & Resorts segment, which showed strength in U.S. spending and volume. Even two items analysts had expected may have given Disney a bit of trouble in the quarter — lack of growth in its ESPN sports unit of the Media sector and a possible write-down of its unsuccessful “Tomorrowland” film — proved to not be the case. In fact, Disney has now passed the $200 billion market-cap threshold for the first time in its history.
Looking ahead (even though Disney does not provide specific guidance in its quarterly earnings reports), extremely high hopes for the forthcoming “Star Wars VII: The Force Awakens” sequel has helped stoked Disney shares year to date — it is the top performer on the Dow for 2015 thus far — and this slightly mixed report does not seem to threaten this. This is the 8th straight quarterly beat for Disney, and CEO Bob Iger looks to continue having operations under control.
Shares of Disney were down 2 percent following the earnings report but prior to the conference call at the top of the hour, in which many investor concerns will be addressed by Iger and new CFO Christine McCarthy. But Disney shares are up around 27 percent year to date and roughly 40 percent from a year ago.
Video game maker Activision Blizzard (ATVI – Snapshot Report) posted impressive earnings and sales numbers after the closing bell Tuesday. Earnings of 11 cents per share (accounting for stock-based compensation and other before non-recurring items) on revenues of $759 million went far beyond expectations of 5 cents per share and $672 million in the Zacks consensus estimates. The Call of Duty and World of Warcraft creator looks to continue its hot streak over the last 4 quarters, where the average positive earnings surprise prior to today's Q2 earnings report was a highly impressive 250 percent.
