Out of the Trough

The Reporter gives good news for DreamWorks A. and Jeffrey K.:

... Shares of DreamWorks Animation were up as much as 9 percent in after-hours trading as investors were treated to an impressive second-quarter earnings report.

... Revenue was up 38 percent to $218.3 million, which was way above the $192 million analysts expected.

I still think that DWA gets absorbed by one of our fine, entertainment conglomerates at some point, I just don't know which one.

Fox and Disney are obviously out, since they have their own animation studios. And Universal is doing well with Chris Meledandri's Illumination Entertainment. Sony is still sputtering along with Sony Pictures Animation.

That leaves Viacom and Time-Warner as candidates, and I'm not sure either is ready to step up and plunk down the kind of cash that Mr. Katzenberg would likely want. So maybe Jeffrey's best long-term option is to grow DreamWorks Animation into its own conglomerate, with theme parks, a distribution company, and live-action properties.

I understand it's been done before, by another cartoon factory. Headed by some guy with a moustache.

Add On: In the wake of upbeat corporate results, Mr. Katzenberg had things to say with analysts:

Jeffrey Katzenberg punted questions about DreamWorks Animation's uncertain future with distributor Paramount Pictures and pending deal with Netflix, focusing instead on the soft domestic performance of "Kung Fu Panda 2" and the future of 3-D.

"A terrible, terrible calamity," is how Katenzberg described the domestic performance of "Kung Fu Panda 2."

But you can't always slam a homerun every time at the plate. Sometimes you must settle for a two-bagger.