DISNEY CLIMBS TO NEW HIGH; WALL STREET CHEERS EXPANSION PROJECTS.

Byline: Dave McNary Daily News Staff Writer

Stock of Walt Disney Co. hit its sixth record close in the past two weeks Friday, reflecting Wall Street's expectations that the entertainment giant's expansion plans will work out.

Disney shares rose as high as $95.31 before closing at $94.44, a gain of 44 cents, during an abbreviated session that ended three hours early at 10 a.m. PST. The entertainment giant has set five records since the Nov. 14 session, when it closed at $89.69, and is now up nearly 37 percent from its last trade of 1996 at $69.75.

The recent price gains have been spurred by Disney's release of its earnings report on Nov. 18, showing an expected 18 percent increase in quarterly profits compared with the same period a year ago. Since then, analysts have issued 15 recommendations - five neutral and 10 positive, topped by an ``outperform significantly'' rating by David Londoner of Schroder & Co.

Burbank-based Disney, which earned $1.97 billion on revenues of $22.5 billion in its fiscal year ended Sept. 30, has set an aggressive expansion course for next year with the opening of an Animal Kingdom theme park in Florida and the launch of a two-ship cruise line.

It is also opening ESPN stores and restaurants, Club Disney and DisneyQuest play parks and is planning a $3 billion California Adventure next to Disneyland and a $2.6 billion DisneySea next to Tokyo Disneyland.