News Corp. income drops, but beats estimates

MarketWatch.com - MarketPulse LOS ANGELES (MarketWatch) -- News Corp. said Thursday that second-quarter net income was $150 million, or 26 cents a share, compared with $1.4 billion, or $2.42 a share, for the same period a year ago. Last year s earnings were affected by a $1.3 billion gain from an acquisition. Adjusted earnings were 31 cents a share, well ahead of the 21-cent forecast from analysts polled by FactSet. Sales for the New York-based publishing conglomerate and parent of the Wall Street Journal were $2.24 billion, slightly below last year s $2.32 billion and in line with the FactSet estimate. Shares ended the regular session up 2.6% to $16.02 and jumped another 4.5% to $16.74 in after-hours trades. News Corp. is the parent of MarketWatch, publisher of this report.Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.