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Activision Blizzard beats expectations, has best Q1 results ever, increases guidance

N

Nirolak

Mrgrgr
The short version is that King, Overwatch, and Hearthstone all did quite well, especially Overwatch. World of Warcraft was also up on in-game item sales, though that's expected given proximity to expansion pack.

The early results for CoD and Destiny 2 are also encouraging, which is why the expectations were raised. More of that is covered in a dedicated thread.

ACTIVISION BLIZZARD ANNOUNCES BETTER‐THAN‐EXPECTED AND
RECORD FIRST‐QUARTER 2017 FINANCIAL RESULTS
Company Increases CY 2017 Revenues and EPS Outlook
Record Q1 Revenues, Digital Revenues and Earnings Per Share
Record Q1 Operating Cash Flow of Over $400 Million, up 22% Year‐Over‐Year

For the quarter ended March 31, 2017, Activision Blizzard's net revenues presented in
accordance with GAAP were a Q1 record of $1.73 billion, as compared with $1.46 billion for the first
quarter of 2016, an increase of 19%. GAAP net revenues from digital channels were a Q1 record of $1.39
billion, growing 50% year‐over‐year. GAAP operating margin was 29%. GAAP earnings per diluted
share were an all‐time quarterly record $0.56, as compared with $0.48 for the first quarter of 2016, an
increase of 17%.
For the quarter ended March 31, 2017, on a non‐GAAP (redefined) basis, Activision Blizzard's  
operating margin was 43% and earnings per diluted share were an all‐time quarterly record $0.72, as
compared with $0.58 for the first quarter of 2016, an increase of 24%.  
For the quarter, operating cash flows were a Q1 record of $411 million, up 22% year‐over‐year.  
Click to expand...
Source: http://files.shareholder.com/downlo...1-E02F6817700B/Q1_2017_ATVI_Press_Release.pdf

activisionlol0iszk.png
 
H

HarryDemeanor

Member
They must be trying to capture that same money making magic with Heroes of the Storm loot boxes. It'll be interesting to see how much they made at the next earnings call.
 
F

freeofgreed

Member
Da fuck is king? And how have I never heard of it before considering it makes more than both the Activision and Blizzard sides?
 
A

Ashtar

Member
Archtreyz said:
I need to open a big game publishing company. That's a lot of money.
Click to expand...
Only at the top friend
At this point shouldn't it be blizzard activision not activision / blizzard? I mean good lord blizzard is crushing it
Then again activision will probably be a lot higher once destiny 2 launched
Edit: whoa king made as much money as blizzard? Yowza
 
A

Anon67

Member
What's up with its stock going down by around 1.5% right now? Despite doing pretty well, are investors worried about growth on the Activision side of the business? Maybe it's because Activision is starting to make more money less from actual games and more from loot boxes and other microtransactions from their console and mobile games?

Edit: oh shit it's back up to its original price. In that case, why isn't the stock going higher since ATVI beat expectations?
 
H

HarryDemeanor

Member
Ashtar said:
Only at the top friend
At this point shouldn't it be blizzard activision not activision / blizzard? I mean good lord blizzard is crushing it
Then again activision will probably be a lot higher once destiny 2 launched
Edit: whoa king made as much money as blizzard? Yowza
Click to expand...
Should just rename the company to King Blizzard at this point.
 
J

jetsetrez

Member
Can't wait to see how they do big cosmetic "event" loot box promos with Heroes of the Storm now. I've dropped around $20 on most of the Overwatch events, even when I've been much more into HotS.
 
ArtHands

ArtHands

Thinks buying more servers can fix a bad patch
http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/...ings__80_of_which_came_from_digital_sales.php

Intriguinly, it's also 80 percent digital. The company reported $1.39 billion of its quarterly revenue was generated from "digital online channels", which includes digital game sales, subscription fees, and microtransactions -- AKA loot boxes.

During the same quarter a year ago, the company reported that just 64 percent of its revenue was generated digitally, even though that was the first quarter that revenues from recently-acquired Candy Crush developer King were incorporated into the company's earnings reports.

When it came time for company chief Bobby Kotick to issue a statement in the accompanying press release about what drove these revenues, he only mentioned one currently-released Activision Blizzard game: Overwatch.

The company claims it is now Activision Blizzard's eighth "billion-dollar franchise", and that it along with Hearthstone helped propel Blizzard's monthly active user count during the quarter up 58 percent year-over-year.
Click to expand...
 
S

sibarraz

Banned
And people will still claim that Hearthstone is losing money and that Blizzard should apologize if they want to improve their economy
 
N

N7.Angel

Member
Event skins + lootboxes are huge for any publisher now, I'm glad people are buying this stupid shit if it means free content for me, thanks people with too much money ; )
 
M

mcfrank

Member
Sword Of Doom said:
Yeah they are. Gambling alive and healthy




They don't necessarily have too much money. They're being exploited. There's a difference there
Click to expand...

I suppose every time I put a quarter into simpsons arcade when I was a kid to play for 5 minutes I was being exploited?
 
F

FullMetaltech

Member
Man, did not know King was making that much for them. I wonder if theyll make an Overwatch sequal or keep adding to this for good while.
 
P

Psychoward

Banned
Hey guys it's Jeff from the overwatch team here, even though this game had made us literally a billion dollars and we're part of the most profitable gaming publishers ever, we hope you look forward to our 3rd multiplayer map coming in fall 2017, in the meantime enjoy some temporary skins.
 
M

ModernBoxes

Banned
Lothars said:
Nobody is being exploited and to say they are really shows that you have an agenda here.
Click to expand...

He has an agenda because he's calling out gambling addiction prevalent in Mobile and free games? He must be under cover. In reality he's an evil man from the board of health.
 
P

Psychoward

Banned
ModernBoxes said:
He has an agenda because he's calling out gambling addiction prevalent in Mobile and free games? He must be under cover. In reality he's an evil man from the board of health.
Click to expand...
That's the funny part too, cod and OW aren't even free. Cod even has a season pass as well lol
 
L

Lothars

Member
ModernBoxes said:
He has an agenda because he's calling out gambling addiction prevalent in Mobile and free games? He must be under cover. In reality he's an evil man from the board of health.
Click to expand...

Psychoward said:
"You don't need to buy it so therefore it's not a predatory business philosophy that capitalizes on people who have a compulsion to gamble."
Click to expand...
No It's not a predatory business philosophy since it's never needed to buy. It only unlocks customizable.

There's nothing wrong with this type of model. There's a bigger issue with the model in COD when guns that affect gameplay than that is a huge issue but none gameplay boxes are not a big deal at all.
 
Interfectum

Interfectum

Member
Lothars said:
Nobody is being exploited and to say they are really shows that you have an agenda here.
Click to expand...

I'm all for lootboxes (as it doesn't fracture playerbase and leads to continued game support) but I also know full well that it's a very exploitative way of doing business. It works because it triggers those with a predisposition to gambling to buy way more than they should.
 
Jag

Jag

Member
Interfectum said:
I'm all for lootboxes but I also know full well that it's a very exploitative way of doing business. It works because it triggers those with a predisposition to gambling to buy way more than they should.
Click to expand...

I fund my loot box obsession with "free" WoW gold.
 
P

Psychoward

Banned
Lothars said:
No It's not a predatory business philosophy since it's never needed to buy. It only unlocks customizable.

There's nothing wrong with this type of model. There's a bigger issue with the model in COD when guns that affect gameplay than that is a huge issue but none gameplay boxes are not a big deal at all.
Click to expand...
I don't think you understand what I meant when I said predatory business philosophy. Personally I like that no gameplay items are locked behind a pay wall or grind in OW but that doesn't change the fact that the loot boxes are point blank gambling, with no odds given.

And ok, well Activision owns COD too so we could just talk about those game play affecting loot boxes if you'd like.
 
F

fireflame

Member
I stopped caring about Blizzard when they stopped making good singleplayer games, and asdly, those results tell me i can keep not caring.
 
A

Arkeband

Banned
Lothars said:
No It's not a predatory business philosophy since it's never needed to buy. It only unlocks customizable.

There's nothing wrong with this type of model. There's a bigger issue with the model in COD when guns that affect gameplay than that is a huge issue but none gameplay boxes are not a big deal at all.
Click to expand...

It's not predatory, it's just gambling aimed at a predominantly underaged audience!
 
A

AdventureRacing

Member
Theyre absolutely killing it. With a release of destiny and COD coming up it's hard to see that changing. Blizzards franchises just keep on growing and with a new Diablo likely coming soon they're just going to keep going up.

Shows how strong mobile gaming is that king actually brings in more revenue than even blizzard.
 
K

Kill3r7

Member
AdventureRacing said:
Theyre absolutely killing it. With a release of destiny and COD coming up it's hard to see that changing. Blizzards franchises just keep on growing and with a new Diablo likely coming soon they're just going to keep going up.

Shows how strong mobile gaming is that king actually brings in more revenue than even blizzard.
Click to expand...

Ditto. Yet folks argue that mobile gaming should not count as real gaming.
 
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