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Wall Street Journal
After a strong early-year performance, publishing giants Electronic Arts Inc., Activision Blizzard Inc. and Take-Two Interactive Software Inc. are forecast to post even better financial results for a period when few big-budget games are typically released. Analysts say the publicly traded companies, known for making many of the $146 billion global game industry’s biggest hits, likely benefited from players spending more money on virtual perks such as digital costumes for characters. Collectively, the companies are projected to more than double their adjusted earnings from the year-earlier quarter, according to analysts polled by FactSet.
The robust outlook comes as other large companies in the games space have reported significant growth in recent weeks. Microsoft Corp. had a 65% increase in Xbox content and services revenue in its most recent quarter. Ubisoft Entertainment SA —the Paris-based company behind blockbusters such as “Assassin’s Creed”—last week said it had record quarterly net bookings, crediting a boost in sales from stay-at-home orders world-wide.
A surge in users for Roblox Corp., maker of a platform with millions of free games, has put the company’s third-party developers on track to double their earnings this year from 2019, the closely held company said Tuesday.