Disney Earnings Beat the Street

Walt Disney Co., the entertainment giant that also is one of Orange County’s biggest employers, says net operating profit in its latest quarter rose solidly as record profits from its theme parks offset weakness at its Internet operations.

Profit from operations in the fiscal first quarter ended Dec. 31 rose to $341million, or 16 cents a share. That was up from the year-earlier’s $278 million, or 13 cents a share, and better than the 15-cents-a-share consensus estimate of analysts polled by First Call/Thomason Financial. Revenue rose to $7.31 billion from $6.82 billion a year ago.

Disney officials say the earnings gain was fueled by a record $1.7 billion in revenue from the company’s theme parks, which offset a $253-million loss from its Internet business and sluggish sales at most of its retail stores. The gain was also tempered by the huge cost of building its new California Adventure theme park, which opens here on Thursday.