Disney quarterly earnings beat expectations

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Walt Disney Co on Tuesday beat expectations on quarterly earnings as a recovering advertising market boosted its media operations and offset flat revenues at its parks and studio division.

Shares of Disney rose 2 percent in after hours trade after closing up 36 cents or 1.22 percent to $29.84 a share on the New York Stock Exchange.

Net income in the fiscal first quarter ended Jan 2, 2010 was $844 million or 44 cents per share, down from $845 million or 45 cents a share, in the year-ago first quarter.

Excluding items, the company earned 47 cents a share. That beat the 38 cents expected on average, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

(Reporting by Sue Zeidler; editing by Carol Bishopric)