Earnings Preview: Disney, News Corp.; Plus ValueClick, United Online, Macrovision, THQI, TechTarget
This story was written by Joseph Weisenthal.
We're past a lot of the big ones, but this is another crazy week for earnings. So far today, we've heard from Alibaba, Playboy and WWE. Up next:
-- Disney: Analysts expect earnings of $.51 per share, up 7.1 percent from last year, according to Bloomberg's tally. Revenue is expected to be up 5.4 percent to $8.51 million. The House of Hannah is expected to turn in strong numbers on the media side, as TV, DVDs and box office are all thought to have been strong, helped by a number of hit franchises. If there's an area that's cause for concern, it's probably the theme parks side of the business, potentially more sensitive to a consumer spending slowdown. This side of the business, however, has been steadily diminishing, accounting for just over a fifth of op profits last year. Disney (NYSE: DIS) numbers come after the bell. Also, we're hoping to hear at least one question on whether they're seeing any fallout from the Miley Cyrus flap.
-- News Corp.: Weighing in tomorrow, News Corp (NYSE: NWS). is expected to post earnings of $.32 per share on revenue of $8.66 billion, according to FactSet estimates says MarketWatch. There are plenty of moving parts here, including the health of Dow Jones and plans for the Wall Street Journal, a possible bid for Newsday, and MySpace advertising, plus the FIM-Yahoo (NSDQ: YHOO) possibilities. Messrs Murdoch and Chernin aren't likely to tip their hand too much on an earnings call, but they'll have something to say on at least a few of these topics.
Others today include ValueClick (NSDQ: VCLK), THQ (NSDQ: THQI), United Online (NSDQ: UNTD) and TechTarget (NSDQ: TTGT). Tomorrow, Macrovision (NSDQ: MVSN) reports its first quarterly since closing its deal with Gemstar-TV Guide so expect questions on that.
By Joseph Weisenthal