Disney Quarterly Earnings Fall Short

Diluted earnings per share for the fourth quarter increased 16 percent to $1.10 from $0.95 year-over-year. However, excluding certain items affecting comparability, earnings per share for the quarter decreased 8 percent to $1.10 from $1.20 year-over-year.

Overall, revenues for the year increased 6 percent to $55.6 billion, and diluted earnings per share for the year increased 17 percent to $5.73 from $4.90 the year prior. Excluding certain items affecting comparability, earnings per share for the year also increased 11 percent to $5.72 from $5.15 year-over-year.

Meanwhile, Disney Consumer Products and Interactive Media saw revenues for the quarter decrease 17 percent to $1.3 billion, and segment operating income decrease 5 percent to $424 million. According to the company, the decrease in revenue was primarily due to the discontinuation of the Infinity console game business, which

Additionally, the decrease in operating income from merchandise licensing was due to the Fiscal Period Impact and decrease in revenues from merchandise based on

Frozen

. However, it was partially offset by higher revenues from products based on

Finding Dory

and other various Disney properties.

Additionally, Disney’s operating income at cable networks decreased $207 million to $1.4 billion for the quarter due to decreases at ESPN and the Disney Channel, which was partially offset by an increase at Freeform. The decrease at ESPN reflected lower advertising and affiliate revenue and higher programming and production costs. Lower results at the Disney Channel were also due to decreased affiliate revenue and program sales, which was primarily due to the Fiscal Period Impact.

“We’re very pleased with our performance for the year, delivering the highest revenue, net income and earnings per share in Disney’s history,” says Robert A. Iger, chairman and chief executive officer, The Walt Disney Company. “Fiscal 2016 was our sixth consecutive year of record results, highlighted by the opening of Shanghai Disney Resort, the phenomenally successful return of 

Star

Wars

 and our studio’s record-breaking $7.5 billion in total box office. We remain confident that Disney will continue to deliver strong growth over the long-term as we further strengthen our brands and franchises, our technological capabilities and our international presence.”