Discovery Adds $1B To Stock Repurchase Plan As 2Q Results Beat Estimates

Discovery Communications celebrated Shark Week by throwing some chum to the sharks on Wall Street. The company increased its stock repurchase plan by $1B. It has already spent $609M buying back 16.8M shares. Discovery also slightly raised its outlook for 2011: It expects to end the year with as much as $4.175B in revenues, up from the $4.125B maximum it projected in April. The non-fiction cable network owner said that net 2Q earnings came in at $254M, up 71.6% vs the same period last year, on revenues of $1.07B, up 11%. Keep in mind that last year's 2Q profits were depressed when Discovery made an early payment on its debt; factoring that out as well as other one-time factors, the latest 2Q net income figure is up $43M vs last year -- not $148M. Still, earnings at 62 cents a share slightly beat the Street's consensus forecast of 61 cents. Analysts expected revenues of $1.05B. Ad revenue at the U.S. cable networks rose 10% as Discovery raised its prices while selling more of its inventory. CEO David Zaslav says he plans to build Discovery's assets "while delivering sustained financial results and returning additional capital to our shareholders." More to come later this morning when Zaslav holds his quarterly call with analysts.