Activision Boosts Q3, Full Year Outlook After Strong Thanksgiving

Video-game publisher Activision (ATVI) boosted its full-year earnings and revenue targets early Tuesday, citing "better-than-expected response to its holiday slate worldwide," driven by number-one seller Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock. For FQ3 2008, Activision expects record net revenue of $1.225 billion and adjusted EPS of $0.70, up sharply from previous estimates of $0.55/share on revenue of $1.05 billion. For full fiscal year 2008, Activision expects net revenues of $2.30 billion and adjusted EPS of $0.85, compared to a previous outlook of net revenues of $0.65/share on revenue of $2.07 billion. The strong numbers were well ahead of analyst projections. Analysts polled by Reuters had been expecting Q3 EPS of $0.57 on revenue of $1.06 billion, and full-year earnings of $0.69/share on revenue of $2.1 billion. "Due to the strong consumer response to our slate through October and strong retail sales over the Thanksgiving weekend, we are raising our financial outlook for the December quarter and the fiscal year," CEO Robert Kotick said in a press release.

Sources: Press release

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