Pixar Profit Jumps, Thanks to ‘Incredibles’

Pixar Animation Studios more than tripled its earnings in the first quarter on strong DVD sales of its Oscar-winning film “The Incredibles,” the company said Thursday.

Meanwhile, in a call with analysts to discuss the results, Pixar Chief Executive Steve Jobs said he had had several conversations with Robert Iger, CEO-elect of Walt Disney Co.

“He seems like a terrific guy,” Jobs said. “As Bob assumes control of the company, we’ll probably figure out fairly quickly whether there’s some common ground or not.”

Pixar is nearing completion of its next film, “Cars,” which is set to be the last distributed under a deal with Disney. Pixar ended talks last year concerning a new agreement in part because of animosity between Jobs and Disney Chief Executive Michael Eisner.

Jobs’ computer animation company reported net income of $81.9 million, or 67 cents a share, in the quarter ended April 2, compared with $26.7 million, or 23 cents, in the same period last year.

Quarterly revenue tripled to $161 million, compared with $53.9 million in the same period last year.

The earnings per share also reflect the results of a 2-for-1 stock split, which took effect April 19. Analysts surveyed by Thomson First Call had expected earnings of 47 cents a share.

The company said 11 cents of the earnings per share came from better-than-expected sales of “The Incredibles,” which won the Academy Award for best animated film.

The movie has already sold 17.7 million units -- 97% of which were DVDs, which carry a higher profit margin than VHS tapes.

The earnings were disclosed after Nasdaq closed. Shares of Pixar fell 42 cents to $46.27 at the end of regular trading and then rose $2.23, or 4.8%, after hours.

Iger has said he would be interested in reopening contract talks with Pixar after he takes over for Eisner in October.

Jobs said he had had several “nice” conversations with Iger but no negotiations involving a new distribution deal had been conducted. Jobs would like to have a distribution deal in place with a major studio by the end of the year. He said Pixar had nearly $900 million in cash at the end of the first quarter, enough to finance and market its own films, if necessary.

Under the current deal, Disney contributes half the production cost of each film but takes more than 60% of the box office revenue. The companies split revenue evenly from home video sales.

Pixar wants to own 100% of its movies after “Cars” and pay a studio to distribute the films.

The company said it had four movies in some stage of development and had started production on its next film, which will be released in 2007. Pixar is ramping up to produce one film a year and will announce details of its next three projects by year’s end, Jobs said.