Movie “Home” Fuels 40% Jump in DreamWorks Quarterly Revenue

Hollywood studio DreamWorks Animation SKG Inc (NASDAQ:DWA) reported an unexpected 40 percent jump in quarterly revenue, largely fueled by the box-office success of “Home” and strength in its television business.

The company reported on Tuesday it earned $23.9 million in the second quarter ended June 30 from “Home”, which earned $54 million in its opening weekend of March 27, alone. It was the only original DreamWorks movie released this year, and performed second only to “Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted,” which was released in 2012.

According to Box Office Mojo, a website that tracks theater ticket sales, the movie “Home” starring singer Rihanna, Jennifer Lopez and Emmy-award winning actor Jim Parsons, grossed roughly $386 million worldwide as of Aug. 2.

The earnings report no doubt marks a staunch turnaround for the film studio, which took impairment charges of $57.1 million related to the performance of “The Penguins of Madagascar” and “Mr. Peabody and Sherman”, among others in the quarter that ended December.

Revenue from DreamWorks’ television business more than doubled to $54.5 million, helped by higher number of episodes delivered under its content licensing arrangements. Total revenue rose about 40 percent to $170.8 million, beating the average analyst estimate of $166.7 million, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

However, net loss attributable to DreamWorks widened to $38.6 million, or 45 cents per share, in the three months ended June 30 from $15.4 million, or 18 cents per share, a year earlier. Costs jumped 32 percent to $99.9 million. Excluding items, the company reported a loss of 13 cents per share.