Disney, DIS Reports Third Quarter 2015 Earnings Beat: Stock Down On News
After the close of regular trading today, The Walt Disney Company (NYSE: DIS) reported its third quarter 2015 financial results. The firm reported earnings per DIS share of $1.45 on gross revenues of $13.1 billion.
Analysts who publish research on Disney had been calling for EPS of $1.42 and gross revenues of $13.2 billion. The EPS number represents a marginal beat and growth of 5 percent from 2014. The revenue number missed expectations by about $100 million, but still grew 13 percent from 2014 levels. Disney management will be hosting a conference call to discuss the results, scheduled at 5 p.m. ET.
Disney stock traded down on the news in the after-hours session. As of 4:18 p.m., the stock was down $2.46 to $119.23 or about 2 percent.
For 2015, Disney stock was up about 29 percent at the close of regular trading today. Over the past 10 years, Disney stock is up over 400 percent. Disney stock pays an annual dividend of $1.32, which equates to a yield of 1.1 percent. Disney has a total market capitalization near $206.5 billion and 1.7 billion shares outstanding.
Steady Growth For The Walt Disney Company
Going into today’s Disney announcement, analysts following the firm had been calling for fourth quarter 2015 EPS growth of 29.2 percent and full-year 2015 EPS growth of 16.9 percent. Research firms who follow Disney see EPS growing by 13.5 percent in 2016 and annually at an average rate of 15.3 percent over the coming five years.
Analysts see fourth quarter Disney revenues at $13.5 billion, up 9.2 percent from the fourth quarter of 2014. For the full 2015 fiscal year, analysts see Disney generating $52.6 billion in revenues up 7.7 percent from 2014 levels. In 2016, analysts see Disney revenue increasing another 7.3 percent to $56.4 billion.
Before today, Disney had approximately $15 billion in debt outstanding, giving it a debt to equity ratio of 30 percent.
Disney also boasted a strong return on equity of 17.5 percent, operating margins of 24.1 percent and profit margins of 15.8 percent.
The average research firm Disney stock recommendation before this evening’s announcement was 2.0, where 1.0 is a strong buy and 5.0 a sell. The average stock price target published by research firms was $123.44. Disney stock price targets ranged from $98 to $150 among the 27 firms who follow the company. Changes to analysts’ stock recommendations and prices targets are likely tomorrow.
Major institutional holders of Disney stock include The Vanguard Group, State Street Corporation, Fidelity Management and Research, BlackRock Institutional Trust Company, and Bank of New York Mellon Corporation. The Walt Disney Company employs over 180,000 people, headed by Chief Executive Officer Robert Iger.
[Photo by Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images]
