Walt Disney Co. stock drops

after reported quarterly earnings fell short of analysts’ expectations.

Walt Disney Co. fell short of analysts’ expectations for its latest quarterly earnings, sending the stock down during afterhours trading Tuesday.

The company’s revenue rose 7 percent to $15.23 billion, but it missed analysts’ expectation of $15.34 billion.

Disney reported earnings of $1.87 per share excluding certain items, up from the previous year, but below Wall Street’s average forecast of $1.95, Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S reported.

Higher programming costs and more ESPN subscribers leaving were some of the reasons to blame for the company’s disappointing numbers, officials said.

The timing of Easter this year also hurt the results.

Last year, two weeks of the holiday fell into the Disney’s third quarter, but this year, it was only one week, which cost Disney $47 million in operating income, said Disney chief financial officer Christine McCarthy.

Overall, revenues for the theme parks and resorts grew by 6 percent to about $5.2 billion.

Theme park attendance grew by 1 percent. Those numbers were hurt by about 1 percentage point because of the Easter holiday timing, McCarthy said.

Hotel occupancy was down about 2 percentage points to 86 percent this quarter because some rooms were not available and were being renovated, McCarthy said.

People were spending more money on food, admissions and merchandise at the theme parks as per capita spending jumped spending 5 percent.

Much of the discussion during the earnings call centered on Disney’s new streaming service, which Disney CEO Bob Iger called the company’s biggest priority for 2019.

Last month, shareholders from Walt Disney Co. and 21st Century Fox agreed to a $71.3 billion purchase plan to give Disney Rupert Murdoch’s media empire

On Tuesday, Iger, who touted the pending acquisition as “historic,” said it would boost Disney’s intellectual property portfolio and help the entire company.

Disney’s earnings call with shareholders comes after Comcast Corp. executives said in late July they are considering building a new theme park to expand on Universal Studios Florida and Universal’s Islands of Adventure.

Comcast is seeking to challenge Disney in luring visitors to stay for longer at their Orlando theme parks. Executives said they want to make Universal a weeklong destination instead of the two or three-day visit it is now.

At Walt Disney World, Toy Story Land opened June 30 at Hollywood Studios. Several new attractions are being built, with the most anticipated being the new Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge. It is scheduled to debut in the late fall of 2019 in Orlando.