What to watch for Wednesday – The Motley Fool

Walt Disney Co. (NYSE: DIS) is expected to release its financial results for the second quarter of 2019 after market close on Wednesday, May 8.

Investors should stay the course on their expectations because the entertainment giant is facing comparable difficulties from one year to the next in its film sector, which we will explore in a moment.

As a reminder, Disney opened fiscal year 2019 with first quarter results exceeding the expectations of many investors. The turnover is stable compared to the same period last year and adjusted earnings per share (EPS) for non-recurring items decreased slightly by 3%. These results are strong given the high year-over-year hurdles resulting mainly from the publication of the blockbuster. Star Wars: The Last Jedi in the period of the previous year.

Driven by investor enthusiasm for Disney's fast-moving business, equities posted a year-over-year return of 38.2%, up to May 3, surpassing S & P 50014.3% back over this period.

Here's what to watch and expect in Wednesday's report.

Title numbers

Here are the results of the period of the previous year to use as benchmarks:

Data source: Disney.

Disney does not provide advice. For some context (although long-term investors should not give too much weight to the short-term estimates of Wall Street), analysts expect House of Mouse to earn $ 1.59 per share for a turnover of 14.39 billion USD, which represents a decrease of 13.6% and 1.1%. year after year, respectively.

Quarterly results can be expected to be "uneven", mainly because of the timing of the film's release, as well as the timing of holidays and major sporting events in the company's financial calendar.

Here is what to expect from the three biggest segments of Disney.

Media networks: continue to focus on Fox's acquisition and streaming services

During the quarter, Disney closed its massive acquisition of Twenty first centuryThe entertainment assets of. Investors can therefore expect Disney General Manager Bob Iger to share more information on the benefit appeal than he has had in the past on this topic, including how integration process.

Iger can also be expected to provide more details on the company's streaming services, in particular Disney +, its larger streaming product that is expected to launch later this year.

Parks, Experiences and Consumer Products: Predicting Continuing Forces in National Parks

In recent years, Disney's national park activities have been stable workhorses with strong, even excellent, quarter-over-quarter performance. In the last quarter, visitors to national parks saw their average spending increase by 7% year-over-year, while attendance was steady. Given this momentum and the opening of new major attractions on the horizon, there is reason to believe that national parks will continue to show strong results.

Studio animation: expect difficult comparisons

Disney faces tough year-over-year comparisons in its film sector, driven by the release of Black Panther in the second quarter of the last fiscal year. The Marvel film grossed approximately $ 1.35 billion at the box office, making it the second most profitable film in the world in 2018. A ride in time was also released in the second quarter of fiscal 2018, but it generated just over $ 132 million in movie revenue.

In the second quarter of the current fiscal year, Titan Entertainment also released a Marvel hit: Captain Marvel, which grossed $ 1.12 billion at the box office and is currently the second most profitable movie in the world this year. Dumbo (2019) has also begun to hit the big screen in the second quarter of the year, although at the very end, it will likely contribute more to the third quarter results. The film currently has about $ 337 million in the world.

As a reminder, during the fiscal year 2018, the sector's revenues increased by 21% and the operating result rose by 29% compared to the previous year.