DIS Walt Disney Co

By WSJ City 

A star-crossed "X-Men" movie and rained-out cricket matches contributed to growing pains at the newly integrated Walt Disney and 21st Century Fox.

Disney fell short of analysts' expectations for the quarter, sending shares down more than 3% in after-hours trading Tuesday.

KEY FIGURES

   -- Q2 was marred by the weak performance of Fox assets purchased in a 
      $71.3bn deal that closed in March. 
 
   -- Fox movies like "X-Men: Dark Phoenix" flopped, even as Disney's own hits 
      set records. 
 
   -- Star India dragged down the company's direct-to-consumer segment after 
      cricket matches were axed. 
 
   -- The Fox deal is still on track to produce about $2bn in cost synergies by 
      fiscal 2021. 
 
   -- Expenses related to Disney+ should lead the company's direct-to-consumer 
      division to lose about $900m in Q3. 
 
   -- Profit declined 40% to $1.76bn. Revenue was $20.25bn, which analysts had 
      expected to be $21.45bn. 

Why This Matters

Disney's purchase of Fox -- a deal that turned the world's largest entertainment company into an even more powerful colossus -- has given Disney valuable franchises like "Avatar" and significant overseas expansion. But it has also tied the industry leader to a smaller rival that has lagged behind so far this year.

While trade tensions between the uS and China haven't depressed attendance at Shanghai Disneyland, Disney said the civil unrest in Hong Kong has hit traffic at its theme park there -- a drop that will be reflected in the current quarter's results.

A fuller story is available on WSJ.com

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(END) Dow Jones Newswires

August 07, 2019 07:40 ET (11:40 GMT)

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