Take-Two beats quarterly results estimates on healthy gamer spending
Updates shares in paragraph 1, adds analyst comment in paragraphs 6, 9, details throughout
By Zaheer Kachwala
Nov 6 (Reuters) -Take-Two Interactive Software TTWO.O beat Wall Street expectations for second-quarter bookings and profit on Wednesday, boosted by the strong performance of the "Grand Theft Auto" and "Borderlands" franchises, sending its shares up more than 5% in extended trading.
Bookings for the second quarter came in at $1.47 billion, beating estimates of $1.43 billion, as per data compiled by LSEG.
The videogame publisher continues to see healthy in-game purchases for its mobile and console titles, as investors keenly await the launch of the hotly anticipated "Grand Theft Auto VI" next year.
"GTA VI" is expected to be an instant hit, with several analysts predicting the game to generate billions of dollars in sales yearly.
The company's fiscal 2026 pipeline also includes titles like "Borderlands 4" and "Mafia: The Old Country," which could give a further boost to bookings along with "GTA VI."
"Borderlands and Mafia should grow over Civilization this year by around $400 million and GTA should add around $2 billion, so they will have no trouble growing next year," said Wedbush Securities analyst Michael Pachter.
Take-Two also said it sold its Private Division label to an unnamed buyer as the company focuses on growing its core and mobile business in the long term.
The company's mobile business saw strong spending, growing over 9% in the quarter.
"Zynga had been actively pushing into accretive revenue streams, like ads, to offset the growing costs of user acquisition," said Joost Van Dreunen, a lecturer at NYU's Stern School of Business.
Take-Two forecast bookings in the range of $1.35 billion to $1.40 billion, compared with estimates of $1.44 billion.
It reiterated its annual bookings forecast, expressing confidence in achieving net bookings growth in its fiscal 2026 and 2027, with analysts seeing much of the growth to come from "GTA VI."
On an adjusted basis, the company earned 66 cents per share, compared with estimates of 41 cents per share.
Reporting by Zaheer Kachwala in Bengaluru; editing by Alan Barona
Related Assets
Latest News
Disclaimer: The XM Group entities provide execution-only service and access to our Online Trading Facility, permitting a person to view and/or use the content available on or via the website, is not intended to change or expand on this, nor does it change or expand on this. Such access and use are always subject to: (i) Terms and Conditions; (ii) Risk Warnings; and (iii) Full Disclaimer. Such content is therefore provided as no more than general information. Particularly, please be aware that the contents of our Online Trading Facility are neither a solicitation, nor an offer to enter any transactions on the financial markets. Trading on any financial market involves a significant level of risk to your capital.
All material published on our Online Trading Facility is intended for educational/informational purposes only, and does not contain – nor should it be considered as containing – financial, investment tax or trading advice and recommendations; or a record of our trading prices; or an offer of, or solicitation for, a transaction in any financial instruments; or unsolicited financial promotions to you.
Any third-party content, as well as content prepared by XM, such as: opinions, news, research, analyses, prices and other information or links to third-party sites contained on this website are provided on an “as-is” basis, as general market commentary, and do not constitute investment advice. To the extent that any content is construed as investment research, you must note and accept that the content was not intended to and has not been prepared in accordance with legal requirements designed to promote the independence of investment research and as such, it would be considered as marketing communication under the relevant laws and regulations. Please ensure that you have read and understood our Notification on Non-Independent Investment. Research and Risk Warning concerning the foregoing information, which can be accessed here.
