Revving Up

Diz Co. reports earnings.

The Walt Disney Co.'s earnings rose 12 percent in the company's fiscal fourth quarter, beating analysts' forecasts on the surprising strength of its new video game "Disney Infinity" and upbeat movie studio results.

But a worse-than-expected performance from Disney's stalwart pay TV unit housing its ESPN network led to a stock drop in after-hours trading.

Analyst Alan Gould of Evercore Partners said the market remained focused on the reliable profits of Disney's pay TV division, rather than the hit-and-miss results from the studio or its games division.

Net income in the three months that ended Sept. 28 came to $1.39 billion, or 77 cents per share. That's up from $1.24 billion, or 68 cents per share, in the same months a year ago. Revenue grew 7 percent to $11.57 billion. ...

You will note that it is cartoon characters that are driving profits at the House of Mouse in the year 2013. Even so, the corporation is a long distance from the days when Walt made black-and-white cartoons in a garage.

Add On: It's not just DreamWorks Animation that Netflix is making deals with.

... The Marvel characters to be featured on Netflix in the four-series deal [that Disney and Netflix] announced today are “not among the most popular,” Disney CEO Bob Iger just told analysts. Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Iron Fist, and Luke Cage ”were never going to become feature films.” But that could change if the shows planned for the streaming service catch on. That makes the agreement “great for Netflix” — and opens “a great opportunity for Marvel to create more brand value…There are more opportunities beyond our platform to produce product for.” ...