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Activision Soars to Record on Upbeat Outlook for Game Sales

Call of Duty, World of Warcraft and Candy Crush fuel growth
The company expects to hire up to 3,000 people in 2021

Attendees during the E3 Electronic Entertainment Expo in Los Angeles in 2018.Photographer: Troy Harvey/Bloomberg

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By Olga Kharif

February 4, 2021 at 9:30 PM UTC

Updated on

February 5, 2021 at 2:42 PM UTC

This article is for subscribers only.

Activision Blizzard Inc. rallied as much as 12% to a record after giving an upbeat outlook for this year and next, boosted by marquee video-game franchises such as Call of Duty, World of Warcraft and Candy Crush.

Revenue this quarter will be $1.75 billion, excluding some items, the company said Thursday, compared with the $1.68 billion predicted by analysts. Its annual forecast also topped estimates, and Activision said 2022 will benefit from a flurry of new game releases. That helped send the shares as high as $104.23 in New York trading Friday.