Tag Archives: atvi

Activision, EA surge as Zynga, King Digital fade

Video game publishers Activision Blizzard and Electronic Arts are riding high thanks to a new generation of game machines starting to populate consumers’ living rooms. Both companies reported March quarter results late Tuesday that beat analyst expectations. Activision stock galloped ahead 8.8% to 21.01 on Wednesday, while Electronic Arts (EA) vaulted 21% higher to 33.95. EA hit its highest price in over five years on Wednesday. Activision is just off its all-time high of 21.50 reached on March 17. Activision (ATVI) earned 19 cents a share minus items on sales of $772 million in Q1. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters were expecting earnings per share of 10 cents on sales of $688 million. EA earned 48 cents a share excluding items on sales of $914 million. Wall Street was looking for 11 cents EPS on sales of $812 million. Activision and EA trading at or near fresh highs comes as …

Old consoles dominating holiday video game sales

Despite the arrival of next-generation video game consoles from Microsoft and Sony, games for older consoles dominated the sales charts during the opening weekend of holiday shopping. All of the top 20 best-selling game titles on Amazon.com (AMZN) over the weekend were for prior-generation consoles. Microsoft ‘s (MSFT) Xbox 360 scored 10 of the top 20, while Sony ‘s (SNE) PlayStation 3 claimed eight and Nintendo ‘s (NTDOY) Wii nabbed two, Cowen analyst Doug Creutz said in a research note Monday. The latest game consoles — Microsoft’s Xbox One, Sony’s PlayStation 4 and Nintendo’s Wii U — didn’t have a single game in the top 20. That’s not too surprising for the Xbox One and PS4, given reports of shortages of the new machines, which debuted last month. But the Wii U has been out for a year and a high-profile game, “Super Mario 3D World,” came out on Nov. 22. “We expect Nintendo’s latest console to continue to struggle this holiday,” Creutz wrote. Among third-party publishers, Electronic Arts (EA) had six of the top 20 games, followed by Ubisoft with four. Activision (ATVI) and Time Warner ‘s (TWX) Warner Bros. each had three in the top 20. Activision’s “Call of Duty: Ghosts” for the Xbox 360 was the best-selling game overall, followed by…

Gamers embrace Sony PlayStation 4 at launch

Sony on Friday kicked off a battle for supremacy in the next-generation video-game console market, a week ahead of rival Microsoft. Sony (SNE) began selling its PlayStation 4 console at midnight at major retailers in the U.S. The PS4 is the company’s first new living-room console in seven years. Next Friday, Microsoft (MSFT) will release its third-generation game machine, the Xbox One, setting up a major battle for consumer dollars this holiday shopping season. Both camps have been running TV ad campaigns to grab gamers’ attention. The PS4 boasts ultrarealistic graphics, a smoother gaming experience and new online gameplay and entertainment functions. It launched with 23 first- and third-party gaming titles, including Ubisoft’s “Assassin’s Creed 4: Black Flag,” Activision ‘s (ATVI) “Call of Duty: Ghosts,” Sony’s “Killzone: Shadow Fall,” “Knack” and “Resogun.” The PS4 also features 13 digital entertainment apps in the U.S., including Amazon (AMZN) Instant Video, Hulu Plus, Netflix (NFLX) and NBA Game Time…