Walt Disney Co.'s profit surged in its fiscal second quarter, partly driven by the success of the Marvel Studios hit film "Black Panther."
Burbank-based Disney reported earnings of $2.94 billion, or $1.84 a share, in the quarter that ended March 31, an increase of 23 percent from the same quarter in 2017. Total revenue for the entertainment giant was $14.5 billion, up 9 percent from the same period last year.
The results easily exceeded the $1.70 a share in profit and $14.1 billion in sales that analysts had predicted, according to data compiled by FactSet.
The company's studio entertainment revenues grew 21 percent to $2.45 billion, while operating income jumped 29 percent to $847 million.
"Black Panther," directed by Ryan Coogler, became a cultural phenomenon upon its February release, collecting more than $1.3 billion in global box office sales. The studio followed up with the April release of "Avengers: Infinity War," which has already grossed $1 billion, not reflected in the second-fiscal quarter earnings.
Home entertainment sales of "Star Wars: The Last Jedi" also helped quarterly results.
Disney also reported a big boost from its theme parks business, which rose 13 percent to $4.88 billion in revenue. Growth at Walt Disney World Resort, Disneyland Paris and Hong Kong Disneyland Resort gave the segment a lift.
As Disney continues to boast powerful results from its film studio and parks business, the company is facing a likely showdown with cable giant Comcast Corp. over its purchase of Rupert Murdoch's 21st Century Fox.
Disney is hoping to buy the bulk of Fox, including the film and TV studio, for $52.4 billion, pending regulatory approval, in a deal first announced in December. The proposed deal is a major component of Disney Chief Executive Robert Iger's plan to make Disney a more powerful competitor in the face of growing tech giants including Netflix, Amazon and Apple.
However, Comcast Corp. is preparing an all-cash offer to outbid Disney, after previously getting rebuffed by Fox, people familiar with the mater said. Disney's bid is an all-stock transaction.
Disney shares fell 69 cents, or 0.7 percent, to $101.79 in regular trading Tuesday after Reuters first reported the potential Comcast bid. The stock rose 0.5 percent in after-hours trading, immediately following the earnings report.
Aside from the Fox deal, a key part of Disney's ongoing evolution is the sports cable network ESPN. The company in April launched the subscription streaming service ESPN Plus in a bid to draw online viewers at a time when the network has been squeezed by cord-cutting and the rising cost of televising major sports.
ESPN Plus subscribers have on-demand access to live events, including Major League Baseball, NHL hockey and collegiate sports, as well as ESPN's critically acclaimed "30 for 30" sports documentaries.
Operating income for Disney's cable networks business declined 4 percent in the quarter to $1.73 billion, reflecting decreases at ESPN and Freeform and a loss at digital platform BAMTech, Disney said.
Overall media networks revenue, which included ABC and cable channels, grew 3 percent to $6.14 billion. The segment's profit declined 6 percent to $2.08 billion.
