Apple CEO Steve Jobs’ other company, Pixar Animation Studios, posted its first quarter financial results yesterday. Pixar reported earnings of US$8.3 million for the period ending March 31, 2001. Although Q1 earnings dropped year-over-year, Pixar is still predicting a rosy 2001 as the company prepares for a new motion picture release this fall.
The $8.3 million figure is only about one third of what the company reported for the same quarter in 2000, but it still beat forecasts. Jobs explained the drop from falling sales of merchandise and media related to “Toy Story 2,” the company’s hit motion picture and video release.
Jobs said that Pixar just secured a new ten-year contract with Toy Story creator John Lasseter, as well. Meanwhile, Jobs reports that Monsters, Inc. — Pixar’s newest animated motion picture — “is scoring higher than any of [Pixar’s] prior films in test screenings.”
Monsters, Inc. is slated for a November 2 release.
Pixar also announced that it is raising projections for overall 2001 earnings per share from the previous range of $0.30 to $0.50 to $0.40 to $0.55.
Pixar shares rose in after hours trading, from a market close of 34.09.