Pixar Animation Studios, the company headed by Apple Computer Inc. chief Steve Jobs that collaborates on computer-animated features with Disney, announced Wednesday that it will beat analysts' forecasts for the third quarter. It said earnings were boosted from revenue received earlier than expected for international TV licensing of Toy Story and A Bug's Life and higher-than-anticipated revenue from electronic-game licensing. The company said that it earned $8.8 million during the quarter against $32.3 million during the same period a year ago. Lower earnings were expected given the fact that the company had no new video release in retail stores during the quarter, while a year earlier it was posting revenue from the A Bug's Life video. (It released Toy Story 2 on video at the start of the fourth quarter in October.) Simultaneously, Pixar announced that it plans to release its new animated feature Finding Nemo in summer, 2003 instead of Thanksgiving, 2002.

Source: Studio Briefing