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Activision Blizzard, Inc

5/22/2013, 8:03 AM ET

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Tuesday, May 21, 2:20 PM A little more on the Xbox One: The console will launch "later this year;" Microsoft won't get more specific. No price details yet. A deal has been struck with the NFL to provide "exclusive content" via SmartGlass/Kinect, as well as interactive broadcasts. Gameplay recording/sharing are now supported, as are Skype and group video chat . There isn't any game streaming feature similar to what's promised for the PS4 (SNE). Activision (ATVI) says Call of Duty: Ghosts will arrive on the One. With the One, Microsoft is trying to both address a secular opportunity - soaring demand for Web-based living room entertainment, and a secular threat - a shift in gaming spend/activity to mobile and social titles. (live blog) 2 Comments [Tech]
Friday, May 17, 5:04 PM GameStop (GME +4.5%) closed with a big gain after NPD reported U.S. physical retail video game sales fell 17% Y/Y in April, better than some feared; they fell 1% in March, and 27% in Feb. Hardware sales fell 42%, as gamers wait for this fall's launches. Total industry physical retail sales fell 25%; as Electronic Arts (EA +0.9%) and Activision's (ATVI +0.5%) latest results show, such sales make up a declining portion of industry revenue. Take-Two's (TTWO +1.9%) Bioshock: Infinite and NBA 2K13 were the month's 3rd and 7th-most popular titles, and Activision's Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 and Skylanders Giants were #4 and #8. Comment! [Tech, Consumer, On the Move]
Wednesday, May 15, 11:54 AM Activision (ATVI -1.7%) spikes lower as Bloomberg reports talks to buy back part of Vivendi's (VIVHY.PK) ~60% stake have once more faltered. Shares were previously up 4%. (yesterday) Comment! [Tech, On the Move]
Tuesday, May 14, 5:33 PM Vivendi (VIVHY.PK) is still weighing potential deals to sell part of its ~60% stake in Activision (ATVI +3.1%), says CFO Philippe Capron. "The board continues to review a variety of different options, looking at ways to optimize the balance sheet." Vivendi hired bankers last year to find a buyer for its entire stake, but shelved the plan after failing to receive a decent offer. Wedbush speculated Vivendi might go for a leveraged recap deal featuring a giant debt offering and even bigger special dividend. Comment! [Tech, M&A]
Wednesday, May 8, 5:42 PM Activision (ATVI) -6.3% AH after providing light guidance to go with a Q1 beat. A 1.3M Q/Q drop in World of Warcraft subs to 8.3M is likely troubling investors. Online subscription sales (WoW and Call of Duty Elite) fell 9% Y/Y made up 28% of revenue, down from Q1 2012's 43%. But console game sales +85% and 31% of revenue (23% prior). PC game sales (led by StarCraft II and Diablo III) +384% and 15% of revenue (4% prior), and Other sales (inc. handheld/mobile and Skylanders toys) +39% and still 19% of revenue. Digital channels made up 53% of sales vs. 44% a year ago. Electronic Arts (EA) -1.4% after rising 17.1% thanks to its FQ4 report. (PR) Comment! [Tech, Earnings]
Wednesday, May 8, 4:15 PM Activision Blizzard (ATVI): Q1 EPS of $0.17 beats by $0.06. Revenue of $804M (+37% Y/Y) beats by $99.8M. Expects Q2 revenue of $590M and EPS of $0.05 vs. consensus of $605.3M and $0.05. Expects 2013 revenue of $4.25B and EPS of $0.80, below consensus of $4.26B and $0.85. Shares -6.2% AH. (PR) Comment! [Tech, Earnings, On the Move, Breaking News]
Wednesday, May 8, 12:10 AM Notable earnings after Wednesday’s close: AHT, ALJ, ATLS, ATVI, AVNR, CF, CLNE, CLR, CTL, CTRP, CUZ, CXW, DEPO, DK, ERII, ETE, ETP, GMCR, GRPN, GSS, HALO, HEK, HNSN, JOE, LPSN, MBLX, MDR, MED, MIDD, MM, MNST, MNTX, MWE, NWSA, OSUR, PPO, PVA, QTM, RAX, RGP, RIG, RST, SGMO, SPRD, SSRI, STEC, SXL, SZYM, TCAP, TSLA, WR, XTEX Comment! [Earnings]
Tuesday, May 7, 5:52 PM Electronic Arts (EA) now +7.7% AH as better-than-feared FY14 guidance overshadows an FQ4 EPS miss. Activision (ATVI) +1.1%. EA's "Digital' revenue (inc. downloads, subscriptions, ad sales, etc.) rose 45% Y/Y to $618M, while packaged goods/other revenue fell 25% to $396M. Consoles 65% of net revenue (66% a year ago), PCs 21% (25% prior), mobile 9% (6% prior), handhelds 3% (1% prior). Free cash flow was $208M vs. net income of $169M. Battlefield 3 Premium subs rose by 600K to 3.5M. The Simpsons: Tapped Out produced almost $10M in net revenue in March; Real Racing 3 is also doing well on iOS. (PR) Comment! [Tech, Earnings, On the Move]
Tuesday, May 7, 5:35 PM Notable earnings after Wednesday’s close: AHT, ALJ, ATLS, ATVI, AVNR, CF, CLNE, CLR, CTL, CTRP, CUZ, CXW, DEPO, DK, ERII, ETE, ETP, GMCR, GRPN, GSS, HALO, HEK, HNSN, JOE, LPSN, MBLX, MDR, MED, MIDD, MM, MNST, MNTX, MWE, NWSA, OSUR, PPO, PVA, QTM, RAX, RGP, RIG, RST, SGMO, SPRD, SSRI, STEC, SXL, SZYM, TCAP, TSLA, WR, XTEX Comment! [Earnings]
Friday, April 19, 4:31 PM Take-Two (TTWO +3.8%) closes with a strong gain after NPD reports BioShock Infinite was the best-selling traditional video game in the U.S. in March. NBA 2K13, another Take-Two title, came 8th. NPD's industry-wide data was mixed. Retail console sales fell 32% Y/Y, nearly as bad as February's 36% drop, but game sales only fell 1% after declining 27% in the prior month. Accessories sales rose 15%, thanks in part to strong demand for Skylanders (ATVI +1%) merchandise. 1 Comment [Tech, On the Move]
Monday, April 8, 4:47 PM Activision's (ATVI) Blizzard unit acquires the assets of IGN Pro League, a business dedicated to promoting covering competitive gaming (eSports), from IGN (JCOM). Blizzard says part of the IGN Pro League team will form a new Blizzard group focused on producing "high-quality web and mobile content in support of Blizzard games." The purchase could help Blizzard further promote its Warcraft, Starcraft, and Diablo franchises via competitive events. Comment! [Tech, M&A]
Tuesday, April 2, 10:03 AM Activision (ATVI +2.2%) nears its 52-week high again after UBS starts coverage with a Buy and $17 PT. Archrival Electronic Arts (EA -0.1%) has been started at Neutral. Comment! [Tech, On the Move]
Thursday, March 28, 6:49 PM Even as console game sales tumbled and PC demand slipped, PC game sales grew 8% last year to $20B, estimates research firm DFC - this figure includes money spent on online titles. Demand from China is believed to have risen 9% to $6.8B, and positive growth was also reportedly seen in the U.S. and Japan. Interestingly, industry trade group PCGA argues mobile is helping PC gaming enabling smaller developers to launch cross-platform initiatives. Comment! [Tech]
Wednesday, March 27, 2:10 PM Battlefield 4 will arrive this fall and be available on both PCs and consoles, Electronics Arts' (EA +0.2%) DICE studio announces. No word yet on PS4/Xbox 720 support. A 17-minute trailer (video) has been released to show off the latest addition to the franchise, which remains in pitched battle (pardon the pun) with Activision's (ATVI +0.3%) Call of Duty series. EA claims there are 65M Battlefield players worldwide, and reported having 2.9M Battlefield 3 Premium subs in its Dec. quarter report. Comment! [Tech]
Friday, March 22, 4:54 PM Will World of Warcraft fans go for a card game? Activision (ATVI +2%) is launching HearthStone: Heroes of Warcraft, a free-to-play title for the PC, Mac, and iPad that lets users build card decks around Warcraft character classes and compete online. A beta launches this summer, and a full launch is expected by year's end. Though Activision is growing its arsenal of mobile/casual titles, it has been less aggressive than Electronic Arts, arguing consoles are still its main priority. (PR) 1 Comment [Tech]
Tuesday, March 19, 12:29 PM Electronic Arts (EA -7.7%) is now seeing big losses, as the Street concludes its March quarter warning takes priority over John Riccitiello's resignation. Game developers Activision (ATVI -2%), Take-Two (TTWO -1.8%), Zynga (ZNGA -1.7%), and Glu Mobile (GLUU -6.8%) are also lower, as is retailer GameStop (GME -2.3%). EA's warning comes a few days after NPD provided more downbeat retail sales data for the industry to chew on, as aged consoles and a shift to mobile gaming continue taking a toll. (earlier) 5 Comments [Tech, On the Move, Consumer]

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