Gadget Stock Watch: 2007 Video Game Sales, Seagate Slammed, More

1. NPD's much-awaited video game sales data. NPD says non-PC video game (console, software and accessories) sales jumped 44% y/y to a record $17.94B in 2007. Nintendo's (NTDOY.PK) Wii was the best-selling console at 6.29M units sold, followed by Microsoft's (MSFT) XBox 360 at 4.62M and Sony's (SNE) PlayStation 2 at 3.97M units, which easily outsold its successor (PS3: 2.56M units). Nintendo's DS handheld was the top-seller overall at 8.5M units sold. Microsoft's Halo 3 led all software sales by units sold (4.82M), while Activision's (ATVI) Guitar Hero's sales of $820M set a record for annual single franchise sales.

2. Seagate slammed for revenue miss, outlook. Seagate (STX) lost 6% to $21.60 on Thursday and fell another 2.4% to $21.08 (and as much as 8% to $19.86) in extended activity, following its after-hours FQ2 earnings release. STX beat Q2 EPS estimates, but its revenue and current quarter revenue outlook fell short of expectations. STX chief Bill Watkins said he is confident demand for storage will be stable even in a recession. STX is running at near full capacity, but doesn't plan to expand at present. (See Seagate's earnings conference call transcript).

3. Motorola falls even lower on Goldman analyst's comments. Motorola (MOT) led handset stocks lower in a weak market Thursday, -4.3% to $13.41, on pessimistic comments by a Goldman Sachs analyst, who expects MOT to report a "challenging" Q4 on the 23rd. The analyst said MOT may have lost some momentum from Q3, due mostly to an "uncompetitive stable of products." MOT is trading at its lowest level since July 2004.

4. Logitech off 10% on earnings. Shares of Logitech (LOGI) fell 9.9% to $26.51 on Thurs., continuing their 2008 slide now of more than 25%. LOGI's EPS beat expectations, but its top-line growth disappointed. The rumors of a takeover by Microsoft (MSFT) boosted shares on Jan. 10, but since then, LOGI has declined in 4 of the past 5 trading sessions.

Comments

[Long-ShortGuy]

"STX chief Bill Watkins said he is confident demand for storage will be stable even in a recession."

Recessions only ever hit the other guy...