Tag Archives: gme

Teen Interest In Console Gaming Good For EA, Activision, Take-Two

A survey of U.S. teens showed interest and spending on console video games is climbing, boding well for game publishers Activision Blizzard ( ATVI ), Electronic Arts ( EA ) and Take-Two Interactive Software ( TTWO ). Piper Jaffray surveyed 6,500 teenagers nationwide for its 31st semiannual teen survey. Of more than 4,000 video game respondents, 78% own a current-generation game console or expect to in the next two years, up from 73% in the fall survey. Plus, teen video game spending intentions reached new highs in the survey. Piper analyst Michael Olson, in the investment bank’s research report, reiterated his overweight ratings on Activision, EA, Take-Two Interactive and retailer GameStop ( GME ). Teens in the survey expect to spend, on average, $214 this year on video games, up from an 11-year average of $152. “The rising level of interest and ownership in consoles is a clear positive for the game publishers (ATVI, EA, TTWO) and GameStop (GME) as it speaks to the console cycle’s potential to drive software growth in 2016 and 2017,” Olson said in the report Tuesday. Male teens surveyed said they allocate 20% of their overall spending on food, 15% on clothing, and 13% on video games. “Amazingly, video games ranks higher than cars (10%) and electronics (9%),” Olson said. “We believe this is yet another sign that video game consoles are not losing mindshare and, in fact, may be more popular than ever.” Current-generation game consoles include Microsoft ’s ( MSFT ) Xbox One, Nintendo ’s ( NTDOY ) Wii U and Sony ’s ( SNE ) PlayStation 4. Olson anticipates strong spending on video games in the next 12 months, driven by an uptick in the overall quality and quantity of major games. These include new titles in such popular franchises as Activision’s “Call of Duty” and EA’s “Titanfall.”

AT&T Expands Cricket Store Reach In Prepaid Battle Vs. T-Mobile

AT&T ( T ) has again expanded the retail reach of it Cricket brand, with distribution deals at Best Buy ( BBY ) and Aaron’s ( AAN ), as it battles T-Mobile US ( TMUS ) in the prepaid wireless market. AT&T acquired Leap Wireless and its Cricket brand for $1.2 billion in 2014. Since then, AT&T has stepped up Cricket advertising while opening more retail stores. T-Mobile acquired prepaid specialist MetroPCS in 2013. AT&T says it will add 1,000 Best Buy locations and 2,000 stores through Aaron’s, a nationwide lease-to-own retailer, to its Cricket distribution network. AT&T earlier signed deals with Target, Wal-Mart, and GameStop ( GME ). AT&T has nearly 4,000 Cricket-owned stores. Cricket wireless services now will be sold at 12,000 outlets across the U.S., including AT&T’s Cricket stores and distribution at Target ( TGT ), Wal-Mart ( WMT ), GameStop, Best Buy, Aaron’s and other locations. About one-fifth of U.S. mobile phone users buy prepaid wireless services. Prepaid customers buy calling minutes and data as needed. Many prepaid plans renew automatically every month, blurring the line with postpaid subscribers that have service contracts. Prepaid customers typically buy less-pricey phones upfront, and spend less on data services. T-Mobile and AT&T both added 469,000 prepaid subscribers in Q4, while  Verizon Communications ( VZ ) shed 157,000 and Sprint ( S ) lost 491,000. Some of Sprint’s prepaid subscribers upgraded to postpaid plans. AT&T stock was up a fraction in midday trading in the stock market today , above 39. Shares are more than 7% extended from a 36.55 buy point first touched on Feb. 3. T-Mobile stock also was up a fraction midday Monday.

GameStop Turns To Mobile Devices, Collectibles As Game Sales Slip

At least three Wall Street analysts cut their price targets on GameStop ( GME ) stock on Monday, following the video game retailer’s fiscal fourth-quarter earnings and guidance. Late Thursday, GameStop delivered mixed Q4 results and current-year guidance. The Grapevine, Texas-based company also acknowledged for the first time that physical video game sales are in permanent decline. Pacific Crest Securities analyst Evan Wilson said it took several years for GameStop to admit what most industry observers already knew — that digital game downloads were cannibalizing physical game software sales. GameStop executives said diversification is now the company’s main strategy. GameStop is increasing its specialty stores that sell AT&T ( T ) and Apple ( AAPL ) products as well as outlets that sell pop-culture collectibles based on “Star Wars,” Marvel superheroes, “Game of Thrones” and other creative properties. Wilson reiterated his sector-weight rating on GameStop stock. “We remain skeptical on the collectibles business and AT&T reseller stores,” Wilson said in a research report Thursday. “These can all be fine businesses, even with better margins than the core. However, they just cannot be big enough to replace games and justify GameStop’s current market capitalization, in our view. We continue to expect it to spin its tires diversifying away from games and to underestimate the pace of negative change in the game business.” Benchmark analyst Mike Hickey on Monday reiterated his sell rating on GameStop stock and lowered his price target to 26.33 from 27.36. GameStop was down a fraction, near 30, in afternoon trading on the stock market today . GameStop Knocked As A ‘Waffle Maker Retailer’ Hickey knocked the company’s efforts to to grow sales through mobile devices and pop-culture collectables. “We remain largely unimpressed by the company’s transformation to a mobile distributor/T-shirt, bento box, waffle maker retailer,” Hickey said in a report. GameStop has an “outmoded” business model built around sales of game hardware and software using traditional retail stores, he said. Hickey says console software sales will turn completely digital within the next five years. For its fiscal fourth quarter ended Jan. 30, GameStop earned $2.40 a share, excluding items, on sales of $3.53 billion. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected $2.25 a share on sales of $3.56 billion. On a year-over-year basis, GameStop EPS ex items rose 12%, but sales ticked up just 1%. Game hardware and software accounted for nearly 87% of sales in fiscal Q4. Sales of game products dropped 3.1% to $3.05 billion in Q4. Mobile and consumer electronics sales rose 16.9% to $209 million, accounting for 5.9% of Q4 revenue. Top sellers included the Apple iPhone 6S, the Apple Watch and Beats headphones. GameStop added 552 new technology brand stores last year and ended the period with 1,036 stores, including the Simply Mac and Spring Mobile chains. Sales of collectibles and other products rose 77% to $266 million, making up 7.6% of revenue. It ended the fiscal year with 35 collectibles stores worldwide, including ThinkGeek outlets. Piper Jaffray analyst Michael Olson maintained his overweight rating on GameStop stock, but cut his price target to 41 from 42. He noted that the company’s guidance for Q1 and fiscal 2016 was below consensus estimates. Wedbush analyst Michael Pachter reiterated his outperform rating on GameStop stock, but cut his price target to 36 from 38. He took a more cautious stance as the company increases its mobile phone retail business. “GameStop is a quality retailer, has a shareholder-friendly capital allocation strategy, and has prudently managed the transition from a games-only retailer to a multi-channel retailer of games, mobile hardware and services and collectibles,” he said in a research report Monday. “We expect GameStop’s core business to continue to contract, and expect its mobile and loot businesses to continue to grow.”