'Bee Movie,' 'Shrek' Bolster DreamWorks
DreamWorks Animation SKG
(DWA)
, led by "Bee Movie" and "Shrek the Third," easily exceeded analysts' forecasts for first-quarter earnings and revenue.
The filmmaking company said Tuesday that revenue for the quarter was $156.6 million, up from $93.7 million in the year-earlier period. DreamWorks earned $26.1 million, or 28 cents a share, compared with last year's $15.4 million, or 15 cents a share.
Analysts were expecting a profit of 23 cents and revenue of $131.9 million.
"After a solid quarter for many DreamWorks Animation titles, we are now looking forward to our next theatrical release, 'Kung Fu Panda,' which opens domestically on June 6th," stated Jeffrey Katzenberg, CEO of DreamWorks, in a press release. "This marks the start of an important 12-month period for the company, in which we will release three feature films, including our first in 3D, and launch our first live entertainment show, 'Shrek the Musical,' on Broadway this December."
"Bee Movie" contributed $48.9 million of revenue, driven by its release into the home-entertainment market and additional international box-office receipts. "Shrek the Third" was responsible for $48.3 million of revenue, primarily from international home-entertainment sales.
Looking ahead to the remainder of the year, DreamWorks reiterated its expectation that its results primarily will be influenced by the performance of "Kung Fu Panda." The company's fall release, "Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa," is scheduled to open domestically on Nov. 7.
Shares of DreamWorks rose 3% in late trading to $26.50.
Disney
(DIS) - Get Report
,
News Corp.
(NWS) - Get Report
,
Viacom
(VIA) - Get Report
and
Time Warner
(TWX)
, all of which have movie divisions, were fractionally lower.
This article was written by a staff member of TheStreet.com.