Disney Q1 Profit Beats Wall Street Estimates

(RTTNews) - Media and entertainment giant Walt Disney Co. (DIS), Tuesday reported a profit for the first-quarter profit that trumped Wall Street estimates, driven largely by growth in park and resorts as well as media businesses.

Burbank, California-based Disney's first-quarter profit dropped to $2.79 billion or $1.86 per share from $4.42 billion or $2.91 per share last year. Last year's bottomline included a $1.6 billion one-time tax benefit associated with U.S. federal tax reforms.

Adjusted earnings for the quarter were $1.84 per share, compared with $1.89 per share last year. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters estimated earnings of $1.55 per share.

Revenues for the quarter were relatively flat at $15.30 billion compared to last year's $15.35 billion last year. Analysts had a consensus revenue estimate of $15.18 billion.

Disney has agreed to acquire 21st Century Fox (FOX, FOXA) for $71 billion. Disney will absorb Fox's storied film and television studios as well as stakes in the Sky PLC pay-television company and the Hulu video-streaming service.

Media networks segment's revenues rose 7 percent to $5.92 billion, while parks and resorts units increased 5 percent to $6.82 billion.

Studio entertainment revenues dropped 27 percent to $1.82 billion, largely reflecting strong performances of Star Wars: The Last Jedi and Thor: Ragnarok in the prior-year quarter compared to Mary Poppins Returns and The Nutcracker and the Four Realms in the current year. Direct-to-Consumer & International revenues declined 1 percent to $918 million.

DIS closed Tuesday's trading at $112.66, up $0.86 or 0.77% on the NYSE. The stock further gained $1.91 or 1.65% in the after-hours trade.