Activision Reports Better than Expected Performance
The US video game publisher Activision Blizzard has surpassed expectations for the first quarter of 2013 but is expecting challenges throughout the rest of the year.
The first quarter produced better than expected results for Activision Blizzard
The prediction lead to a drop in after-hours trading which saw shares drop 6%, however shares did close up $0.32 a share.
The company reported 18.8% higher quarterly net income of $456 million on 13.3% higher revenue.
The adjusted earnings per share were 17c a share, better than the 11c predicted by analysts.
The Skylanders and Call of Duty franchises were the top two in North America and Europe for the quarter and World of Warcraft remained the most popular subscription multiplayer online role-playing game.
The company is expecting competition from Disney Infinity and Battlefield 4 this autumn and the increased competition will probably result in greater marketing expenditures.
Activision’s CEO, Bobby Kotick, said about the launch of the PlayStation 4 and the Xbox 360 successor, “There are still many unknown factors such as pricing, launch dates and quantities, the level of first-party support and, importantly, consumer purchase intent in a world where consoles are no longer are just competing with each other but also with new platforms such as smart phones and tablets.”
