Analysts forecast Disney, which owns ESPN and about a dozen theme parks around the world, earned $1.10 per share in the second quarter on $22.1 billion in sales. California-based Disney recently held off an activist investor’s attempt to gain seats on the board. Disney shares are up 33% since November, when it announced a sharp increase in profits and an expansion of its cost-cutting drive.Before the bell on Thursday, pizza maker Papa John’s offers up its first-quarter financial results.
Kentucky-based Papa-John’s is expected by Wall Street analysts to post profit of 57 cents per share on $544 million in sales. In the same period last year, Papa John’s earned 68 cents per share on $527 million in revenue. In March, the company announced the departure of CEO Rob Lynch, who left to take the same position at the burger chain Shake Shack. Papa John’s is still searching for his replacement.The University of Michigan on Friday releases its preliminary May index of consumer sentiment.
The index is geared toward household finances, whereas the Conference Board’s consumer confidence index leans heavily on consumers’ view of the job market. In April, the consumer sentiment index slipped to 77.2. Analysts expect it to fall again this month.