Tag Archives: sne

GameStop losing ground to digital downloads, stock tanks

GameStop fell sharply Friday as some investors declared “game over” for the stock. The video game retailer late Thursday reported Q3 earnings that missed expectations by a wide margin. GameStop earned 57 cents a share excluding items on sales of $2.09 billion for the quarter that ended Nov. 1. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters had expected 61 cents and $2.2 billion. Earnings per share fell 2% from the year-earlier period, while sales slipped 1%. GameStop blamed the delayed release of Ubisoft’s “Assassin’s Creed Unity” for hurting Q3 sales. Comparable store sales were down 2.3% in the period. GameStop (GME) stock was down 14%, near 37, in morning trading on the stock market today. During the quarter, new hardware sales increased 147%, outpacing industry growth of 102%, fueled by next-generation consoles from Microsoft (MSFT) and Sony (SNE). But new software sales declined 34% as the retailer faced difficult comparisons to …

Sony aims to shake up pay TV with Internet alternative

Sony (SNE) on Thursday introduced the first multichannel Internet television service designed as an alternative to traditional pay-TV offerings from cable and satellite companies. Called PlayStation Vue, Sony’s Web TV service will be available initially to owners of PlayStation 3 and 4 video game consoles. It will offer live and on-demand programming with technology to personalize what content is presented. In a press release, Sony called PlayStation Vue a “pioneering new cloud-based TV service that reinvents the television experience.” PlayStation Vue will launch commercially in the first quarter. Invitation-only beta testing will begin this month in New York, followed by Chicago, Philadelphia and Los Angeles. Sony will expand the service from PS3 and PS4 consoles to Apple (AAPL) iPads soon and later to more Sony and non-Sony devices. During beta testing, PlayStation Vue will offer about 75 channels from CBS (CBS), Discovery Communications (DISCA), Fox (FOX), NBCUniversal…

EA hits 6-year high on ‘Titanfall,’ sports video games

Electronic Arts (EA) jumped to a six-year high on the stock market today after the video game publisher crushed fiscal second-quarter forecasts late Tuesday. EA earned 73 cents a share excluding items, up 121% year-over-year and topping Wall Street’s target of 53 cents for the Sept. 30-ended quarter. Sales rose 17% to $1.22 billion, beating the forecast of $1.16 billion among analysts polled by Thomson Reuters. The Redwood City, Calif.-based company also raised its annual revenue guidance by $75 million to $4.175 billion and adjusted EPS by 20 cents to $2.05. EA stock was up 4% in early afternoon trading today, near 39. EA credited hot-selling games for next-generation consoles from Microsoft (MSFT) and Sony (SNE) for the outperformance last quarter. This year, EA is the No. 1 publisher on Microsoft’s Xbox One and Sony’s PlayStation 4 “in the Western World,” led by such games…