3rd Quarter Pretty Good . . .

Well, the numbers are out for the 3rd quarter.  You can view them here and listen to the re-broadcast here. 

Basically if you run down the first page of the report here is a basic summary:

• Media networks is on par for the quarter with the rest of the year in growth at about 8%.  Major offset is slow weakening in advertising, mostly from companies that themselves are in financial trouble (automotive and finance were the ones given).  Likewise they made a little advance from the strike last year, but it didn't sound like a lot.
• Studios is of course down from last year with the blowout last year of Pirates III.  However, it's not down anywhere CLOSE to what the difference in revenue between Pirates and Narnia is.  I think even if Narnia had been a blow-out for what it COULD make, the studio number would still be down from last year.  WALL-E got most of the Studio glamour.
• Consumer Products revenue was up but income was down.  Basically a mixed bag with a lot of quarter movement based on the re-acquisition of the Disney Stores.
• Lastly comes Parks & Resorts.  As we suspected, revenue is up here as well, though is has slowed a little.  The biggest news really is bookings for the 4th quarter and into the late calendar year appear to be at or above benchmark... 

One other thing of note especially in relation to P&R is that CAPEX (or capital expenditures) is basically inline with last year, so no major movements there away from the historic norm either.

Lastly, cash flow was up (but if you take into account all the caveats, it's probably close to flat), and they continue to buy back shares.

For those of you who found the article I wrote about Euro Disney the other day interesting, you'll also find it interesting that at this point Disney owes MORE on Euro Disney after a decade than they spent on building Hong Kong. 

As a consumer the biggest take away is:

Bob and Tom don't expect the product pricing/discounting/product mix for the parks to change remarkably from what it has been, and occupancy remains above 90% in both California and Florida. 

So for all you people hoping for a big drop in Disney trip prices, looks like your out of luck through at LEAST January at the moment.