Walt Disney Co share price up, beats profit forecasts as “Frozen” shoots up earnings

Walt Disney, the worlds largest entertainment company, reported on Tuesday higher-than-expected profit in the quarter ended March thanks to the continuing box office success of its animated film “Frozen”, as well as “Thor: The Dark World”. The company also reported solid gains at its theme park division.

Operating income at Walt Disney Studios more than quadrupled in the three months through March 29th to $475 million from $118 million a year earlier, and revenue soared 35% to $1.8 billion.

The outstanding growth in operating profit at the film unit was mostly attributed to the continuing huge success of “Frozen”, which is already the most digitally downloaded movie and best-selling Blue-ray disc ever. It has earned $1.2 billion in worldwide ticket sales, including $400 million during its five months of projections in the U.S. and Canada, making it the highest grossing animated film in history.

Moreover, “Frozen”s contribution went beyond the box office as its soundtrack became the best-selling album in the United States, according to Billboard, spurring ideas for a Broadway musical. The animated films success also led to the almost instant sell-out of related merchandise, as well as immense popularity of themed park attractions.

Chief Executive Bob Iger said, cited by Reuters: “The passion for this film and these characters is so extraordinary, so well beyond what weve ever imagined, that it would be hard to believe that it wouldnt sustain itself over a fairly long period of time.”

Disney experienced a season of growth across all its businesses. Overall revenue jumped by 10% to $11.6 billion and net profit surged by 27% to $1.9 billion in the quarter, up from $1.5 billion during the comparable period a year ago. Disneys film unit ranked at the second spot in operating income among its five divisions, up from its previous No.4 spot. The television unit remained at first place with revenue jumping 4% to $5.1 billion and operating income reaching $2.1 billion, up 15%.

Operating income at Disneys US theme parks jumped by almost 20% to $457 million, which was attributed to higher attendance and consumer spending.

Meanwhile, the Marvel film “Captain America: The Winter Soldier”, which has earned $700 million globally, will boost second-quarter earnings. It exceeded the performance of the first instalment “Captain America: The First Avenger”, while the upcoming Marvel productions – “Guardians of the Galaxy”, due to be released in August, and a sequel to “The Avengers”, due in 2015, are expected to make Walt Disneys $4-billion acquisition of Marvel pay off.

Mr. Iger said: “Marvel is just getting started. With The Avengers 2 in production and characters from The Avengers in favour, there’s huge potential there.”

In addition, the companys video game division, which also oversees various websites – Disney Interactive, generated $268 million in revenue and $14 million operating income, marking its third consecutive quarter in profit after five years of losses, which had piled up to $1.4 billion.

Walt Disney Co rose by 1.49% to $82.24 by 13:34 GMT in New York, marking a one-year change of +24.47%. The entertainment company is valued at $141.97 billion. According to the Financial Times, the 25 analysts offering 12-month price targets for The Walt Disney Company have a median target of $86.00, with a high estimate of $96.00 and a low estimate of $68.00. The median estimate represents a 6.13% increase from the previous close of $81.03.