Pixar's Animated Results

A whole bunch of kids and their parents must have found Nemo, because Motley Fool Stock Advisor recommendation Pixar Animation Studios (Nasdaq: PIXR  ) had one heck of a second quarter. Even though Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL  ) and Pixar CEO Steve Jobs is recuperating from pancreatic cancer surgery, he must have had something to smile about when he saw the company's results.

I'll never forget the first time that I saw Toy Story and Tom Hanks' Woody walked across the screen, smashing the barrier between standard animation and Pixar animation. The public immediately fell in love with the long list of Pixar's movies, including Toy Story, Toy Story 2, A Bug's Life, Monsters Inc., and Finding Nemo. The company's latest movie, The Incredibles, which is set to hit theaters on Nov. 5, is a story about a family of superheroes living a quiet suburban life, only to be forced out of retirement to thwart a diabolical plot. I'm not sure who is more excited about seeing the movie, me or my kids.

Consumers have become so enamored with Pixar's movies on DVD and video that the company reported earnings of $0.63 per share for the second quarter, which was $0.26 a share better than the consensus estimate of $0.37 and nearly double last year's $0.34-per-share figure. The company also crushed revenue projections of $47.7 million with a whopping $66.3 million of second-quarter revenue. Jobs said in the company's press release that we should "Prepare to be blown away" by The Incredibles, but the company has already accomplished that feat through its earnings release.

Pixar continues to be comfortable with the $0.20-per-share earnings expectation for its third quarter, but if today's news is any indication, I wouldn't get too comfortable with that number. Upside surprises have been Pixar's style since it first gave us Toy Story. With an expected 28% annualized growth rate in earnings over the next five years, Pixar's prospects remain bright as both a cutting-edge animated filmmaker and an investment.

David Gardner thinks Pixar has so much investment potential that he recommended it for Motley Fool Stock Advisor subscribers. You can sign up without risk for three months.

Fool contributor Phil Wohl spent more than 12 years on Wall Street and now concentrates his writing on more fictional characters. He has no stake in any firm mentioned above.