‘The Croods’ Helps DreamWorks Animation Increase Quarterly Profit

LOS ANGELES â€" Glass half full: The cave people of “The Croods” came through for DreamWorks Animation in the second quarter, as strong ticket sales for that movie raised the company’s profit by 73 percent, to $22.2 million.

Glass half empty: The studio’s financial results are still being whipsawed quarter to quarter, and the underperforming “Turbo” is likely to cause headaches in the period ahead.

“The film’s soft opening is a clear result of an overly saturated marketplace and a difficult release date,” Jeffrey Katzenberg, the company’s chief executive, said of “Turbo,” which has taken in about $102 million worldwide after two weeks.

Mr. Katzenberg added, “Based on the data that we have to date, we do believe that ‘Turbo’ will be a profitable film for us.”

For the quarter, which ended on June 30, DreamWorks Animation reported net income of $22.2 million, or 26 cents a share, up from $12.8 million, or 15 cents a share, in the same period a year earlier. Analysts had been expecting 20 cents a share.

Revenue jumped to $213.4 million from $162.8 million, driven by $584 million in global ticket sales for “The Croods” and stronger-than-expected DVD sales of “Rise of the Guardians.” Shares of DreamWorks Animation rose more than 5 percent in after-hours trading, to about $26.

In a conference call with analysts Wednesday, DreamWorks Animation executives sought to underscore the work they were doing to diversify away from movies. They discussed new theme park deals with companies like SeaWorld; growth at their newly acquired YouTube channel, Awesomeness TV; expansion in original television programming, including the hiring of two senior Nickelodeon executives; and plans for a more robust toy and merchandise business.

Mr. Katzenberg said consumer products would soon start to become “an ongoing business as opposed to one that is simply event-driven.”

The studio has hired 35 people in its toy and merchandise unit since Jan. 1 and on Wednesday announced the arrival of a senior executive to lead “retail development and entertainment.”