DreamWorks Goes Out with Earnings Victory

DreamWorks Animation SKG Inc., in the midst of being acquired, beat Wall Street estimates on earnings and revenue for the second quarter. The Glendale animated film and television studio on Wednesday reported net income of $2.3 million (3 cents a share) for the quarter ending June 30, compared with a net loss of $38.6 million (- 45 cents) in the same period a year earlier. Revenue increased 29 percent to $221 million. Analysts on average expected an earnings loss of 7 cents a share on revenue of $182 million, according to Thomson Financial Network. The quarterly earnings report could likely be the last from DreamWorks Animation as an independent company as it is being acquired by Comcast Corp. of Philadelphia. The deal has been valued at $3.8 billion or $41 a share. The studio behind such feature film hits “Shrek,” “Kung Fu Panda” and “How to Train Your Dragon” is to become part of the Universal Filmed Entertainment Group in Universal City, a division of NBCUniversal. Chief Executive Jeffrey Katzenberg started the studio as part of DreamWorks SKG with director Steven Spielberg and media mogul David Geffen. It was spun off as a separate public company in 2004 with a large campus in Glendale. It also has facilities in China and India. According to earlier published reports, Katzenberg will get $380 million from his stock plus payments of $44.5 million as a result of the deal. The acquisition announcement in late April caused the company’s share price to spike more than 23 percent; it has been above $40 since. In September, it had fallen to a 52-week low closing price of $17.14. Shares on Wednesday closed unchanged at $40.99 on the Nasdaq.