Walt Disneyshares slumped in after-hours trading Tuesday after the Dow component posted earnings and revenue that missed Wall Street expectations.
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Cinderella's Castle
The media conglomerate said its fiscal second-quarter net income slipped 1 percent as its amusement parks were hurt by the Japan earthquake and tsunami and the shift in the Easter holiday. Studio profit also was hit by the poor box office performance of "Mars Needs Moms."
Disney reported earnings of 49 cents a share. Disney earned 48 cents a share during the same period a year earlier.
Sales for the most recent quarter rose to $9.08 billion, up from $8.58 billion last year.
The company was seen earning 56 cents a share on revenue of $9.13 billion, according to a consensus estimate from Thomson Reuters.
Shares of Disney tumbled almost 3 percent in extended trading. Get after-hour quotes for Walt Disney here.
Investors appeared to be betting on the company during Tuesday's regular session before the earnings report. Disney was the top gainer among components of the Dow Jones Industrial Average Tuesday, closing at $43.91. Volume exceeded 10.6 million shares before the closing bell.
Strong advertising growth at sports network ESPN and a bounce in theme park attendance after Japan's earthquake could not completely make up for a 13 percent drop in studio entertainment revenue in the fiscal second quarter.
U.S. media firms are riding a rebound in TV advertising as corporate budgets recover from the recession. This month, Time Warner beat Wall Street's expectations on quarterly profit, joining Viacom and CBS in benefiting from a stronger advertising market.
Analysts expect a strong summer for Disney with the release of blockbuster films like the fourth "Pirates of the Caribbean" installment and "Captain America."
But Disney's studio entertainment sales slid to $1.34 billion in the most recent quarter, from $1.54 billion a year earlier.
