Tallahassee, FL 11/10/11 (StreetBeat) --The Walt Disney Co. (NYSE: DIS) reports its fiscal fourth-quarter earnings after the market closes on Thursday, with analysts looking for advertising revenue growth at Disney's TV channels including ESPN.Although the rebound in the advertising market has been losing steam, analysts still expect Disney to post gains from a year ago, in line with other media companies that have already reported quarterly earnings including Time Warner Inc. and Discovery Communications Inc.
Analysts polled by FactSet expect Disney to report adjusted earnings of 54 cents per share on revenue of $10.37 billion. In the same quarter a year earlier, Disney reported adjusted earnings of 45 cents per share on revenue of $9.74 billion.
Sports rights costs may be a point of discussion on an earnings call with analysts, after ESPN in September renewed its Monday Night Football contract with the NFL through 2021. The eight-year deal raises average costs by $800 million a year from the current contract. In order to drive earnings higher on the deal, Disney will have to pass increased costs along to pay-TV distributors, and ultimately subscribers.
Management may also shed some light on its plans for succession. CEO Bob Iger last month said he would stay put through March 2015 and then serve as executive chairman for 15 months to break in a new chief executive. Chief financial officer Jay Rasulo and amusement parks chairman Tom Staggs are seen as being groomed for the top job since they made a high-profile job switch in late 2009 to give one more financial experience and the other an operational hands-on role.
Disney's profit is expected to get a boost from a better film slate than a year ago and the successful release of "The Lion King" in 3-D. Shortly after the box-office-topping re-release, Disney said it would churn out four more classics in 3-D. The releases are seen as highly profitable because most of the production costs already have been paid.
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Disney's profit is expected to get a boost from a better film slate than a year ago and the successful release of "The Lion King" in 3-D. Shortly after the box-office-topping re-release, Disney said it would churn out four more classics in 3-D. The releases are seen as highly profitable because most of the production costs already have been paid.
StreetBeat Disclaimer
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