Two well-known entertainment firms -- The Walt Disney Co. (DIS - Analyst Report) and Lions Gate Films (LGF - Analyst Report) -- reported earnings after the bell Thursday, and both companies topped estimates on the top and bottom lines. Disney brought in $12.39 billion in revenues for the September quarter on earnings per share of 89 cents, beating the $12.23 billion and 88 cents per share expected. Lions Gate saw $552.9 million in sales and 16 cents earnings per share, surpassing the $532 million and 13 cents, respectively.

Disney has really been on a roll for the past three years when the stock was trading at $30 and change. Improvements in its five separate businesses and some hugely successful feature films like Frozen have been at the fore, though Disney does not seem to be quieting down anytime soon. Summer blockbusters like Guardians of the Galaxy helped keep the Studio segment in high gear, with a new Star Wars film -- its title just announced this morning, in fact: The Force Awakens -- coming down the pike.

As far as big film releases, the much smaller but no less movie-prolific Lions Gate may have not made much hay with Expendables 3, but the company has obviously very high hopes for Hunger Games: Mockingjay, Part 1, set for release the week before Thanksgiving. Lions Gate also made inroads into the online video streaming market recently by inking an agreement with Tribeca Enterprises.

For Disney's part, recent streaming deals with Google Play among others will keep this segment competitive with Netflix (NFLX - Analyst Report), as well. Also, its Parks segment performed well in the quarter, helping Disney to an all-time record year in fiscal 2014 (which ended Q4 at the September quarter). Disney has beaten earnings estimates in each of the last 5 quarters. Lions Gate's beat-to-miss ratio is a little less steady than that, though when the company beats, it tends to do so by bigger margins.

Both companies had a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) before their respective earnings announcements. Disney shares are down slightly in the after-market, but Lions Gate is up roughly 4.5%.

Update: Lions Gate earnings report analysis

Update: Disney earnings report analysis