Pixar perf is nothing incredible
DVD sales for studio less than expected
More Articles:
Most Viewed:
'New Moon' shines at box office(8026 views)'New Moon' takes opening day record(1398 views)Weitz digs 'Gardener'(935 views)Oprah gets steamy with HBO(735 views)ABC adopts 'Find My Family' show(664 views)Few frontrunners for revamped Oscars(654 views) |
Problems in the homevideo market led Pixar to disclose that total unit sales of the title last quarter have been reduced.
After reporting in early May that the pic had sold 17.7 million units, animation studio said Thursday that returns in the quarter ended July 2 have actually lowered that total to 16.7 million.
Company made just $2.2 million in revenue from the title last quarter, primarily for consumer products and pay-per-view. That compares to $7.7 million for 2003's "Finding Nemo" in the same time period.
Speaking to analysts on a conference call, Pixar reported it sold 10.4 million units of "The Incredibles" overseas. Figure was below expectations, with sales particularly slow in France and Japan.
Overall, company saw a profit of $12.7 million on revenue of $26.4 million. Results were in line with revisited estimates it issued on June 30.
In terms of unit sales, "The Incredibles" is tracking 10% behind "Monsters, Inc.," which had a similar box office take. Higher wholesale prices for "The Incredibles" thanks to a bigger proportion of DVDs in the homevid mix has kept overall revenue for the two pics about even.
Keen on Mouse
Meanwhile, those hoping Pixar and Disney will avoid a breakup had reason to be pleased as Steve Jobs said negotiations are going well and he went out of his way to praise the two execs with whom he is now talking instead of Michael Eisner, with whom he had a testy relationship.
"I like the two principal players, Bob Iger and Dick Cook, a lot," Jobs told analysts. "I'm cautiously optimistic but there are still several hurdles to cross."
Exec said that no matter who ends up as Pixar's partner for a new distribution agreement starting in 2007, he wants to have a deal in place by the end of this year.
As for earnings, library titles accounted for $13.5 million in sales, while Pixar made $3.million from sales of its animation software.
Pixar is expecting earnings of 8¢-12¢ per share in the current quarter, about even with last year's 10¢.
Perf for the rest of the year will be driven primarily by TV deals and the DVD re-release of "Toy Story" in September and "Toy Story 2" in December, as company doesn't expect to recognize any more homevid revenue from "The Incredibles" for the rest of the year given its sales problems.
Unlike with theatrical and initial homevid releases, Pixar will be getting less than 50% of the returns from "Toy Story" re-releases under its deal with Disney, though exact terms aren't available.
Pixar shares closed down 1% Thursday at $41.25 and were flat in after-hours trading following the earnings report.
