Disney beats - but ESPN continues to struggle

Markets Insider

• Disney on Tuesday reported earnings that topped Wall Street's expectations.
• The company said it earned $1.84 a share on revenue of $14.15 billion.
• Follow Disney's stock price in real-time here.

Shares of Disney are climbing, up more than 2% in after-hours-trading Tuesday, following the entertainment giant's second-quarter earnings release that topped Wall Street expectations.

Here are the key figures:

• Earnings per share: $1.84 versus $1.70 expected
• Revenue: $14.15 billion versus $14.13 billion expected

"Driven by strong results in our parks and resorts and studio businesses, our Q2 performance reflects our continued ability to drive significant shareholder value," CEO Bob Iger said in a press release. "Our ability to create extraordinary content like Black Panther and Avengers: Infinity War and leverage it across all business units, the unique value proposition we're creating for consumers with our DTC platforms, and our recent reorganization strengthen our confidence that we are very well positioned for future growth."

ESPN revenue fell for another quarter as the cable sports network struggles to find its footing in the digital world. Disney's acquisition of BAMTech from Major League Baseball's advanced media division added to the losses for the company's cable networks.

"The decrease at ESPN was driven by higher programming costs, partially offset by affiliate revenue growth and higher advertising revenue. The programming cost increase was due to a shift in timing of College Football Playoff (CFP) bowl games and contractual rate increases for college sports and NBA programming," Disney said.

Shares of Disney have declined 9% since the beginning of 2018.