This afternoon,the Walt Disney (NYSE: DIS) is going to be reporting its fiscal third quarter earnings.
Analysts are expecting to see the company hit hard by the current recession, with all segments of the company's business have felt the impact.
Disney pulls in a lot of advertising money. The company owns the ABC network and has an 80% stake in ESPN. The current advertising slump that the recession has created is expected to have impacted Disney's advertising revenues once again in the third quarter.
The company has put in place some very compelling package discounts this summer to encourage tourists to continue visiting its theme parks. The discounts have managed to keep visitor numbers similar to last year, but those visitors are paying less to get in and spending less than they did last summer.
Compared with its third quarter last year, Disney is expected to show an 18% drop in earnings this afternoon. Last year's third quarter earnings were 62 cents per share. This afternoon, analysts are expecting to see earnings of 51 cents a share.
The last time that Disney reported earnings was back in May, when the company was able to outpace analyst estimates by 3 pennies. In fact, it has topped analyst estimates 12 of the past 14 quarters.
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