NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - The Walt Disney Company, the world's No. 2 media company, reported Tuesday solid gains in quarterly profits from growth at its U.S. theme parks and improving advertising sales at its cable television networks.

For the three months ending June 30, the Burbank, Calif.-based entertainment powerhouse said earnings came to 29 cents per share, a 21 percent increase from the same quarter a year earlier. Total net income was $604 million.

The earnings included a charge of $56 million, or 2 cents per share, for the planned sale of its money-losing North American retail stores. Disney said it expected to have a sale agreement in place in the first quarter of fiscal 2005.

Total revenues from Disney's four segments -- media, movies, theme parks, and consumer products -- came in at $7.47 billion, or 20 percent higher than the third quarter of 2003.

Wall Street analysts surveyed by Thomson First Call expected earnings per share of 27 cents and revenues of about $7.2 billion.

CEO Michael Eisner repeated earlier predictions that Disney's income is on track to increase more than 50 percent in the fiscal year ending September.

Wednesday's rosy profit report marks three consecutive quarters of earnings growth at Disney. With a diverse entertainment business, Disney is viewed as a good measure of consumer sentiment generally. If consumers are confident, the theory goes, they'll head to Disneyland with wallets open.

When it came to theme park draw, Disney did not disappoint. Citing the ongoing recovery of post-9/11 tourism, Disney reported revenues increased 32 percent in the quarter, to $2.3 billion. Operating income increased 20 percent, to $421 million, from the same quarter last year.

Those results, however, were boosted by results from Euro Disney and Hong Kong Disneyland, which were included for the first time in Disney's overall theme park numbers.

Yet, despite the reassuring data, theme park attendance has softened on both coasts during the summer peak season. Visitation to Disneyland in California is down. In Florida, a surge in attendance last summer is likely to dampen year-to-year comparisons in the current quarter.

Disney president Robert Iger sounded a warning. He said that while the precise reasons for softer theme park attendance aren't known, he cited factors that include a slowing economy, renewed terrorism threats and record oil prices.

Both Eisner and Iger said they were encouraged by Federal Reserve Bank chairman Alan Greenspan's prediction Tuesday that the U.S. economy would strengthen in coming months. "That's good news for us," said Eisner.

There was also promising news on the television front. Revenues at Disney's media division, which includes the ABC and ESPN networks, rose 8 percent to $2.9 billion. Operating income grew 15 percent from the third quarter of 2003 to $673 million.

In particular, Iger said Disney sold $2.1 billion worth of advertising on ABC during the "upfront," the annual season beginning in May when broadcasters line up advertisers for the coming fall season. Disney pulled off rate increases at ABC of about 5 percent over 2003, despite poor ratings at the network.

ABC is the No. 4 primetime network. Disney officials pledged again Tuesday to turn the struggling network around. With costs higher in the quarter and uncertainty over future ad sales at ABC, they backed off earlier predictions that the money-losing network would turn a profit in 2005.

Another focal point for Disney's top brass: movies. Disney is having a grim year at the box office after a blockbuster 2003. At this point a year ago, Disney was No. 1 at the U.S. box office with $1.43 billion in ticket sales, according to www.BoxOfficeMojo.com. With $734.5 million in receipts so far in 2004, Disney ranks fourth.

Sluggish ticket sales was one reason Disney cited for a 60 percent decrease in operating income in Disney's movie studio operations. The falloff, to $28 million compared to $71 million a year earlier, came despite a 19 percent increase in revenues. That sales growth was partially attributable to worldwide DVD sales of "Finding Nemo" and other 2003 releases.

"You have hot spells and you have cold spells," said Eisner, dismissing some investor concerns that this year's problems at Disney's movie studios aren't a fluke.

One topic of keen interest to Disney shareholders is Pixar Animation Studios and the possibility that Disney's lucrative partnership with the animation shop will end, as scheduled, in 2006. All 5 feature films that Disney has co-produced with Pixar, notably last year's Oscar winning "Finding Nemo," have been smash hits. Investors are looking for signs of renewed contract talks, which Pixar CEO Steve Jobs officially put on ice earlier this year.

Eisner on Tuesday doused speculation that the two companies had returned to the bargaining table. "We've had no further conversations," said Eisner. He noted, however, that Disney controls the rights to the Pixar film library and is considering producing sequels and other consumer products based on Pixar characters.

In other company news, CFO Thomas Staggs said improved cash flows and reduced debt will likely lead to a stock buyback and a "modest" increase in shareholder dividends this year.

Disney (DIS: up $0.50 to $22.44, Research, Estimates) shares traded mostly up throughout the day Tuesday, closing up 50 cents, or more than 2 percent at $22.46. Shares were mostly flat in after-hours trading.  

Reuters contributed to this report.