Take-Two Jumps in Extended Trading After Sales, Profit Beat Expectations
Take-Two Interactive Software Inc., publisher of “Grand Theft Auto” video games, posted fourth- quarter profit that beat analysts’ estimates on sales of “Red Dead Redemption” and its basketball title. The stock rose.
Profit excluding some costs was 67 cents a share, the company said today in a statement, compared with the 31-cent average of seven analysts’ estimates in a Bloomberg survey. The company had forecast 20 cents to 30 cents on that basis.
The results marked the third-straight quarter of profitability for New York-based Take-Two after losses in three of the past four years. Net income totaled $53.8 million, or 58 cents a share, as sales rose 32 percent to $373.7 million. Revenue exceeded analysts’ estimates of $321.3 million.
“We had any number of exciting releases this year that did extraordinarily well,” Chairman Strauss Zelnick said in a telephone interview. “We’re firing on all cylinders.”
Take-Two advanced 90 cents, or 7.5 percent, to $12.84 in extended trading after results were announced. The stock fell 6 cents to $11.94 at 4 p.m. New York time in Nasdaq Stock Market trading and has gained 19 percent this year.
In October, Take-Two announced a change to a fiscal year ending on March 31 from Oct. 31.
For the current quarter ending Dec. 31, Take-Two projects sales of $290 million to $315 million and profit of 25 cents to 35 cents a share, excluding some items.
“The company appears to be on a path to consistent profitability,” Michael Pachter, an analyst with Wedbush Securities in Los Angeles, said in a research note to investors before the results were announced.
Take-Two appeared to benefit from Electronic Arts Inc.’s decision to cancel “NBA Elite 11,” a rival basketball game that was scheduled for October. Take-Two probably sold more than 1.9 million copies of its “NBA 2K11,” Pachter said.
The decision by Electronic Arts probably added $25 million in revenue to Take-Two’s sales, Atul Bagga, a ThinkEquity analyst, said in a research note.
Editors: Rob Golum, Anthony Palazzo
To contact the reporter on this story: Cliff Edwards in San Francisco at cedwards28@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Anthony Palazzo at apalazzo@bloomberg.net.
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